Gazans denounce Witkoff visit to aid sites as 'propaganda stunt'

Palestinian community, tribal and civil society leaders in Gaza have strongly condemned the visit of US envoy Steve Witkoff to American-run aid distribution sites, calling them "death traps" and demanding he witness the full humanitarian catastrophe caused by Israel's blockade and military assault.

In a press conference held on Friday in western Gaza City, representatives of Gaza’s clans and civic organisations urged Witkoff to visit displacement camps and see the widespread hunger, disease, and devastation rather than take part in what they called a "propaganda tour" designed to sanitise the role of the US and Israel in engineering Gaza’s starvation.

The protest, held in front of the journalist tent at the Rashad al-Shawa Cultural Centre, featured signs reading "Enough starvation", "No to US aid mechanisms", and "Stop the war on Gaza."

Abu Salman Al-Mughani, head of the Higher Committee for Tribal Affairs in the Gaza Strip, said Witkoff should bear witness to the destruction and death toll in Gaza instead of helping whitewash the US-Israeli policy of siege and starvation.

He slammed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and US-run aid mechanisms, saying they had become a symbol of humiliation and death.

"The US food coupons come soaked in blood and degradation," Mughani said, noting that between 80 to 90 Palestinians were being killed each day, many while attempting to reach the aid centres, which are frequently targeted by Israeli forces.

He added that aid sites were often remote, extremely dangerous to access, and undersupplied.

Elderly people, widows, and persons with disabilities were unable to reach them, worsening their suffering amid intensifying famine and the collapse of public health.

Mughani also condemned the growing chaos and looting at aid sites, which he said were driven by Israeli-backed gangs seeking to sow disorder in Gaza.

He accused Israel of using hunger and lawlessness as a tool of domination, while the US aid process enables it.

He called for Witkoff to visit the displacement camps and witness the starvation, exhaustion, and collapse of life in Gaza first-hand - "not through staged visits to polished aid tents".

Abu Jihad al-Masri, a community elder from Beit Hanoun, said the protest was timed to coincide with Witkoff's visit to US aid sites, describing it as an attempt to "rebrand the famine as a humanitarian effort".

"Witkoff is here to cover up the hunger that Israel caused and hoped would remain hidden from the world," Masri told The New Arab's Arabic language edition, adding that Israel's war crimes and blockade should be subject to an international investigation.

Khalil Abu Hassanein, 83, a member of the Higher Committee for Tribal Affairs, said Palestinians have been living through the Nakba since 1948 and that Israel's policy of displacement continues today through its war on Gaza, begun in October 2023.

He said Witkoff's visit comes as Israel intensifies its killing, starvation, and destruction.

"We call on him not to speak with double standards," Abu Hassanein said, urging the US to stop backing Israel’s crimes and instead support the delivery of aid through independent international agencies.

The protest followed the White House’s announcement that Witkoff and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee would enter Gaza on Friday to inspect aid operations and hear directly from Palestinian residents.

Palestinians, however, say the visit is no more than damage control amid growing global condemnation of US complicity in Israel’s siege.