Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, was expected to arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as global outrage intensifies over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
He was set to visit an aid-distribution site in Gaza operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to an Israeli official and a person familiar with the details who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the trip publicly.
Mr. Witkoff, the Trump administration’s lead negotiator in cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas, was also scheduled to meet with Mr. Netanyahu, according to an American official. Israel and the United States pulled back last week from negotiations to agree another truce and secure the release of hostages.
Mr. Witkoff’s visit comes as Palestinians in Gaza are facing a hunger crisis, with a U.N.-backed food security group warning this week that “famine” was unfolding across the territory. The food crisis has become especially acute after Israel cut off all food supplies to the enclave between March and May, saying without evidence that Hamas was systematically stealing aid supplies.
The crisis has been exacerbated by Israel’s decision, backed by the Trump administration, to introduce a new aid-distribution system led by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private American organization. It has given out food at a only a few sites in Gaza in areas that are controlled by the Israeli military. But amid chaotic scenes at the sites, hundreds of people have been killed while seeking food, according to the Gaza health ministry that is managed by Hamas. In many cases, Israeli soldiers have been accused of firing on crowds. The Israeli military said that it had fired warning shots into the air.
In recent weeks, dozens of people have died from starvation, including children, according to the Gaza health officials. The worsening conditions in the territory have sparked a growing wave of international outrage toward at Israel. Canada said on Wednesday that it would recognize a Palestinian state, following similar moves by Britain and France in the past week. All three countries are longstanding allies of Israel.
The war began after a Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw roughly 250 people taken as hostages into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a sweeping military campaign that has killed more than 60,000 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Israel pulled out of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire in March and resumed its attacks on Gaza after accusing Hamas of refusing to release the hostages. About 50 hostages are believed to be held in Gaza, though Israeli officials say some are presumed to have been killed.
On Thursday, a group of mothers and family members of the hostages held a protest outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem to call on Mr. Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring the remaining captives home.
In recent weeks, international organizations have become increasingly alarmed about the spread of hunger in Gaza.
Outrage inside Israel over the scale of the crisis has also been growing.
Separately, in a letter sent to the government and military, 16 Israeli law professors warned that the death and suffering of Gaza’s civilian population “amounts to violations of the gravest offenses under international law and constitutes a serious moral stain on the army, the government, and Israeli society as a whole.”
Natan Odenheimer is a Times reporter in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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