International Quartet Mideast envoy Tony Blair arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday on a low-profile visit.

Well-informed sources told Xinhua that Blair entered the Hamas-controlled territory from Erez crossing point, coming from Jerusalem. UN representatives received Blair and armored jeeps for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) joined Blair's convoy.

An UNRWA spokesman said that Blair will meet officials from the agency to discuss the humanitarian situation in the territory, five months after Israel's three-week offensive on Gaza. He will also meet Palestinian independents and civil society leaders.

The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, deployed its policemen along Blair's route from Erez terminal in northern Gaza Strip to the UNRWA headquarter in southern Gaza city. Hamas police cars also cleared the way in front of the motorcade.

It was unclear if Blair is to meet Hamas officials who have been ruling Gaza actually since June 2007. Earlier in June, a Hamas official told Xinhua that the Hamas-led administration of Gaza was holding indirect contacts with Blair through his office in Jerusalem.

After Hamas won the parliamentary elections in 2006, the Quartet, which made of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, urged Hamas to recognize Israel and abide by peace deals.

However, Hamas refused the Quartet's conditions and the international community banned official talks with the Islamic movement.

In March, Blair visited Gaza for the first time as the Quartet's envoy, but did not meet any Hamas officials.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2009)