HAMILTON, Canada

The UN said on Friday that humanitarian operations continue in the Gaza Strip, with aid convoys moving through multiple crossings and thousands of people recorded travelling across the enclave.

"Yesterday in Gaza, we, along with our partners, continued to collect medical supplies, food, fuel and other cargo from the Kareem Shalom, Karim Abu Salam, and Kissufim crossings," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference.

He noted that "partners monitoring the flow of people across the Gaza Strip report that on Wednesday, more than 17,600 movements were recorded from south to north, and 12,900 movements were recorded from western to eastern Khan Younis."

Saying that the UN relief chief Tom Fletcher entered Gaza from Egypt through the Israeli side of the Karim Shalom crossing earlier Friday, Dujarric stated that he "then drove to Deir al-Bala, where he visited the Castle Bakery, which is one of the nine bakeries that the World Food Program supports with fuel and ingredients across central and southern Gaza."

Describing Fletcher's visit to Gaza as "the first time" since the ceasefire, Dujarric thanked the US for having "a big part in getting the approvals from the Israelis and the Egyptians for him to get in."

Asked by Anadolu how the UN verifies truck entry data provided by Israel's COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), Dujarric said: "These are numbers given by COGAT to the mediators. When numbers are not UN numbers, I think I tried to be as precise as possible in giving you the source of those numbers."

He explained that the UN can verify "the number of trucks we pick up. Because those are ours, the others, we have to believe that the numbers given to the mediators are true. Numbers and trucks are pretty easy to count."

"I hope that we will have a mechanism in the next few days, where we are able to give you our own numbers. Part of the challenge is that we do not have UN monitors at every place where the trucks go through," he added.

Asked why the UN does not have monitors at all entry points, Dujarric said: "Because we're not always allowed to have them there," adding that it is "the Israelis" not allowing it.

He said the UN is "learning to live in a new environment" and that "we've had better cooperation from the Israeli side, and we hope it moves in that direction."