Angelina Jolie visits injured Palestinians and aid workers at Gaza Border

US actress Angelina Jolie has once again placed herself at the heart of a global humanitarian crisis, travelling to the Egypt–Gaza border to meet wounded Palestinians and aid workers struggling to deliver relief into the besieged territory.

The 50-year-old actor, who previously served as a special envoy and goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency, flew to Egypt on Friday.

Her visit focused on the Rafah crossing, the critical gateway linking Egypt and Gaza, where she met members of the Red Crescent and spoke directly with truck drivers transporting humanitarian supplies.

Local media reported that Jolie’s trip was aimed at checking on Palestinians who had been injured in Gaza and medically evacuated into Egypt for treatment.

She was also said to be examining how aid is being delivered into the devastated enclave and spoke to local journalists while at the border.

The high-risk visit follows closely on the heels of another dangerous mission.

Just two months ago, Jolie was seen in Kherson, Ukraine, a city that has remained under constant threat since becoming a frontline target of Russian forces in 2022.

Residents said she toured multiple hospitals there, including a maternity ward and a children’s hospital, drawing attention to civilians trapped in an active war zone.

Former city council member Vitaliy Bohdanov shared images of Jolie wearing body armour marked with the Legacy of War Foundation insignia, a charity supporting people impacted by the conflict.

Separate photos published by a local outlet showed her interacting with children in a playroom scattered with toys, still dressed in protective gear.

The Daily Mail said it had not received a response to requests for comment from Jolie’s representatives.

Kherson continues to endure near-daily Russian strikes. One attack on October 29 hit a children’s hospital, injuring nine people, underlining the extreme danger present during Jolie’s visit.

Jolie’s humanitarian résumé spans more than two decades.

She served as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador from 2001 to 2012 and later as a Special Envoy until 2022, completing more than 60 field missions focused on refugees and displaced families.

Although she stepped down from her official UN role to broaden her work on humanitarian and human rights issues, she has returned repeatedly to Ukraine.

In 2022, she travelled to Lviv, where she met children wounded in the missile strike on the Kramatorsk train station.

She also spoke with displaced families sheltering at the city’s railway station as air raid sirens sounded overhead. That same year, she visited Ukrainian child refugees receiving care in Rome, including at Bambino Gesù paediatric hospital near Vatican City.

During that visit, Jolie met children who had escaped Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. UNICEF estimates that more than two million Ukrainian children fled the country, with another 2.5 million displaced within its borders.

In February 2022, Jolie addressed the war publicly in a message to her Instagram followers, writing:
"Like many of you, I'm praying for the people in Ukraine.
"My focus along with my @refugees colleagues is that everything possible is done to ensure the protection and basic human rights of those displaced, and refugees in the region.

"We have already seen reports of casualties and people starting to flee their homes to seek safety.
"It is too soon to know what will happen, but the significance of this moment - for the people of Ukraine, and for the international rule of law - cannot be overstated."

Her sustained commitment to humanitarian causes was formally recognised in 2013, when she received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her decades-long work aiding victims of war and displacement.