The death toll among Palestinians waiting for food and other aid in Gaza continued to climb as President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived on a visit to the region. Witkoff landed in Israel on Thursday, and the White House said he and U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee will visit Gaza on Friday to inspect aid operations.
Witkoff is expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters told The Associated Press.
This would be the first meeting between Witkoff and Netanyahu since both Israel and the U.S. called their negotiation teams home from Qatar one week ago. Witkoff said at the time that Hamas showed “a lack of desire” to reach a truce.
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Over the last 24 hours, at least 91 Palestinians were killed and more than 600 wounded while attempting to get aid in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. This includes 54 people killed while awaiting food in northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing on Wednesday, the ministry said.
That figure is expected to rise further, as many of those killed or wounded were brought to isolated, smaller hospitals in northern Gaza and have not yet been counted.
The Israeli military said Palestinians surrounded aid trucks and the Israeli military fired warning shots, but that it isn’t aware of any injuries stemming from Israeli fire. A security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations said the gunfire came from within the crowd and altercations between Palestinians attempting to access aid.
The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. Fifty hostages are still in captivity in Gaza, including around 20 believed to be alive. Most of the others have been released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas government. Its count doesn’t distinguish between militants and civilians. The U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
In Jerusalem, about 50 people, including families of some of the approximately 50 hostages still being held in Gaza, demonstrated on Thursday in front of Netanyahu’s office calling for an end to the war.
Israel says it will facilitate the entry of more aid into Gaza
Under heavy international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to facilitate the entry of more international aid to Gaza, but aid workers say much more is needed.
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The Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating humanitarian aid in Gaza said 270 trucks of aid entered Gaza on Wednesday, and 32 pallets of aid were airdropped into the Strip. That amount is far lower than the 500 to 600 trucks per day that aid organizations say are needed.
The international community has heaped criticism on Israel over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. International organizations said that Gaza has been on the brink of famine for the past two years, but that recent developments, including a complete blockade on aid for 2 1/2 months, mean that the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in Gaza.”
The situation has led some leading Israeli rights groups to accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” Yuli Novak, the director of the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, said Monday.
“Systematic destruction of the health care system, denial of access to food, blocking of medial evacuations and using humanitarian aid to advance military targets all indicate a clear pattern of conduct, a pattern that reveals intent,” Guy Shalev from the Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights said.
Israel vehemently denied the charge.
“It is baseless,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said. “There is no intent, key for the charge of genocide.”
Further pressure on Israel and Hamas as U.S. sanctions Palestinian Authority
In recent days, major allies France, Britain and Canada have broken from the U.S. in saying they’re making plans to recognize a Palestinian state in September.
Mr. Trump said Canada’s announcement Wednesday “will make it very hard” for the U.S. to reach a trade agreement with its northern neighbor.
“Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine,” Trump said in his post on Truth Social around midnight. “That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh Canada!!!”
On Tuesday, Arab countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt jointly called on Hamas to end its rule in Gaza and disarm, the AFP news agency reported. The European Union and Arab League countries were among 17 nations that endorsed a seven-page document agreed to at a United Nations conference on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
“In the context of ending the war in Gaza, Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State,” the declaration said, according to AFP.
On Thursday, the U.S. revoked visas for Palestinian officials linked to the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, marking a further deterioration of their relations with the United States. It did not specify which officials would be sanctioned.
The State Department said the organizations had violated longstanding agreements not to undermine the peace process or globalize the conflict through international courts. It accused them of inciting violence and supporting attackers and their families.
Some of the recent announcements of plans to recognize Palestinian statehood have been predicated on reforming the Palestinian Authority, which is widely seen as corrupt and has little support among Palestinians. The PA has also clashed bitterly with Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza.
The PLO, the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people, oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
PLO member Mustafa Barghouti called the U.S. move a response to nations recognizing Palestine and said it proved the U.S. couldn’t be a neutral mediator in the peace process.
“It is time for everyone — including the Palestinian Authority, which along with the PLO is facing U.S. sanctions — to realize that it is futile to bet on the illusion that the United States can act as a mediator,” he said in an interview. “The U.S. is completely and absolutely biased toward Israel and is complicit in its war crimes.”
Debora Patta
contributed to this report.