Steve Witkoff, the United States special envoy to the Middle East, visited a controversial US-backed aid distribution site in Gaza on Friday, where hundreds of Palestinians have died in recent weeks as they try to access what little food has entered the enclave.

Weeks of rising anger over Palestinians starving due to Israel's offensive and aid restrictions had reached all the way to the White House, with President Donald Trump lamenting the sight of emaciated children on the brink of starvation.