U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, made a surprise visit to southern Gaza on Friday, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.  The two officials toured a site operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city.

Speaking on behalf of the foundation, spokesperson Chapin Fay said the high-level visit demonstrated “President Trump’s understanding of what’s at stake in Gaza,” and emphasized that “feeding civilians—not Hamas—must be the priority.”

Ambassador Huckabee echoed that sentiment in a post on his official X account, calling the operation “an incredible feat” and praising GHF for delivering more than one million meals daily. “We came to Gaza to learn the truth about these aid sites,” Huckabee wrote, adding that they were briefed by the IDF and met with staff and aid recipients on the ground.

The visit comes as GHF’s aid program faces mounting backlash—both for its logistical limitations in meeting skyrocketing demand and for its coordination with the IDF. Human rights groups have condemned recent fatalities during aid distributions, blaming poor planning, IDF engagement, and Hamas interference.

On his personal X account, Huckabee defended the joint U.S.-Israeli-backed initiative, writing that “Hamas hates GHF because it gets food to people without it being looted.” He cited the foundation’s claim that over 100 million meals have been distributed in just two months.

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