Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Bard Pedersen entered the Gaza Strip on Thursday through the Erez border crossing on a few hours' visit.
Pedersen is scheduled to take a field tour in which he will inspect the destruction left by last summer's Israeli offensive on the blockaded coastal enclave, Maher Abu Sabha, who heads the border authority in the Gaza Strip said.
In July and August of last year, more than 2,160 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed – and some 11,000 injured – in a devastating Israeli military onslaught against the blockaded Gaza Strip.