Mr. Huckabee, a Baptist minister, is the first evangelical to serve as American ambassador to Israel. Christian conservatives and the Netanyahu government are pleased.

The officials will inspect aid distribution sites and "secure a plan to deliver more food," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

International aid groups and Palestinians say the changes have only been incremental and are not enough to reverse what food experts say is a 'worst-case scenario of famine' unfolding in the war-ravaged territory.

But by Thursday, Trump was back in a familiar role—not only defending Israel but explicitly linking his economic policies to continued support for it. “Wow!,” Trump posted on his social-media site, “Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday to discuss the disintegrating humanitarian situation in Gaza, as the U.S. imposed new sanctions on officials from the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.