Xinhua Agency, United Nations, October 17 (Reporter Pan Yunzhao) UN Secretary-General Spokesperson Diyarik said on the 17th that Tom Fletcher, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, entered the Gaza Strip that day. He is the highest-ranking United Nations official to enter the Gaza Strip after the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire came into effect.

Speaking at a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Diarrick said Fletcher had entered Israel from Egypt a few hours ago, entered the Gaza Strip through the port of Kerem Shalom, then drove to the central city of the Gaza Strip, Delbeih, to visit a bakery supported by the United Nations World Food Programme, and met with the head of the relevant UN agency¡¯s office in the Gaza Strip.

According to Diyarik, Fletcher visited the Rafah crossing between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt on the 16th and saw trucks loaded with aid heading towards the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southeastern Gaza Strip on the border with Israel. He also visited the Egyptian Arish Hospital, which treated hundreds of Palestinians evacuated from the Gaza Strip. The United Nations and its partners continued to collect aid at the Kerem Shalom Port and the Kisuim Port in the central Gaza Strip on the same day, with a view to distributing it to the people of the Gaza Strip.

Fletcher called on Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to implement the ceasefire agreement, stressing the need to open all ports to allow large-scale shipments of aid.

The Israeli government on May 14 decided to suspend the reopening of the Rafah port, which is critical for the transportation of aid supplies, due to Hamas¡¯ failure to deliver the remains of all detainees on time. The port has been under Israeli control since May 2024. The United Nations Coordination Office for Humanitarian Affairs said that because of Israel¡¯s delay in opening the Rafah port, aid trucks sent from Egypt could only circumvent the port of Kerem Shalom, where they could enter Gaza after Israeli inspection.

The World Food Program said on the 17th that since the ceasefire agreement came into effect, an average of about 560 tons of food has been shipped into the Gaza Strip every day, but it is far below actual needs. Moreover, the World Food Program has difficulty accessing the northern Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, for material distribution, and calls on Israel to open Erez and other ports in the northern Gaza Strip bordering Israel.