US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff will travel to Gaza on Friday to inspect aid distribution sites, the White House said on Thursday.
Mr Witkoff, who is currently in Israel, will be accompanied by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and will focus on securing a plan to deliver more food to the besieged enclave.
He will “meet with local Gazans to hear first-hand about this dire situation on the ground” and then brief US President Donald Trump after the visit to “approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region”, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
She added that Mr Witkoff and Mr Huckabee had a “very productive meeting” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials on Thursday on the topic of delivering much-needed food and aid to Gaza.
“President Trump is a humanitarian with a big heart, and that's why he spent sent special envoy Witkoff to the region in an effort to save lives and end this crisis,” Ms Leavitt said.
She added that Mr Witkoff is “actively talking with our counterparts in Israel” about a possible ceasefire, but she highlighted that Mr Trump said in a social media post that the quickest way to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was for Hamas to release the hostages taken on October 7, 2023.
The announcement of Mr Witkoff's visit comes after the US imposed sanctions on members of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Washington accused the PA and PLO of “continuing to support terrorism”, supporting international legal cases against Israel and “undermining prospects for peace”, the US State Department said earlier on Thursday.
The State Department did not immediately release a list of the officials named in the sanctions, who will be denied US visas.
“It is in our national security interests to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace,” it added.
