Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's envoy, visits the Gaza Strip this Friday

It is a rare visit for a foreign diplomat to the war-torn Palestinian territory. Steve Witkoff , Donald Trump's US envoy to the Middle East, is due to visit the Gaza Strip this Friday.

This will be Steve Witkoff's second publicly announced visit to Gaza. He traveled there last January while a ceasefire was in effect between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, before a resumption of the Israeli offensive on March 18.

After 22 months of a devastating war sparked by the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Gaza Strip is threatened with "widespread famine" according to the UN and is totally dependent on humanitarian aid distributed by trucks or dropped from the air.

According to the White House spokeswoman on Thursday, Steve Witkoff and the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, will "travel to Gaza to inspect distribution sites" of aid and put in place a "plan to deliver more food."

"They will meet with residents of Gaza to hear firsthand about this terrible situation," she added. "They will brief the president (...) to approve a final plan for the distribution of aid."

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, at a time when many countries have said they are considering recognizing a Palestinian state, much to Israel's dismay.

Dozens of people are killed every day in Gaza, which is under siege by Israel, as a result of Israeli gunfire and bombardment, according to the Civil Defense, which reported 38 Palestinians killed on Thursday.

In the starving Palestinian territory, airdrops often cause scenes of chaos. This Thursday in Al-Zawayda (central Palestinian territory), at the sight of aid being parachuted by a plane, dozens of Palestinians ran towards the drop site, pushing and shoving each other for packages.

"Hunger has driven people to turn against each other. People are fighting each other with knives," said Amir Zaqot, who was waiting for aid.

"The fastest way to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND FREE THE HOSTAGES!!!" thundered Donald Trump, appearing to distance himself from his Israeli ally by referring to a "real famine" in Gaza.

Ahead of Steve Witkoff's visit, dozens of mothers and relatives of Hamas hostages demonstrated in Jerusalem to demand the release of the 49 hostages still held in Gaza, 27 of whom have been declared dead by the army.

This Thursday, Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, released a video of an Israeli hostage it is holding. Agence France Presse (AFP) was unable to determine the video's authenticity or the date it was recorded. However, it, like several Israeli media outlets, identified the hostage as Rom Braslavski, a German-Israeli.

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a devastating offensive in Gaza that has killed at least 60,249 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and caused a humanitarian disaster.

"The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is beyond imagination," said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul after talks in Jerusalem. Ahead of his visit, Wadephul said Israel was "increasingly in a minority position," while "a growing number of countries, including European ones, are ready to recognize a Palestinian state."

Portugal said Thursday it is considering recognizing the State of Palestine, following the example of Canada , France , and the United Kingdom . Such recognition, however, remains largely symbolic due to Israel's refusal to allow the creation of such a state, to which the Palestinians aspire.

Israel has denounced a "distorted international pressure campaign" that "rewards Hamas," while the Netanyahu government wants to drive the movement out of Gaza and control the territory.

Donald Trump "expressed his displeasure and disagreement with the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, and Canada" over the recognition of a Palestinian state, according to the White House.

The Israeli government has announced a limited pause in the offensive to allow aid to be delivered to the small, impoverished territory, where more than two million Palestinians are crammed. But this aid is considered insufficient by international organizations.