First U.S. lawmakers in Gaza in 8 years

GAZA, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A U.S. congressional delegation was in the Gaza Strip Thursday, marking the first U.S. lawmakers' visit to the region in eight years, an official says.

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., who is part of the delegation, said the group's visit Thursday in the Gaza Strip represents a new U.S. approach to the troubled region, CNN reported.

Baird was traveling with U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., but an unidentified official confirmed U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is visiting the Gaza Strip separately from the House of Representatives pair.

Baird and Ellison, the first Muslim in the U.S. Congress, visited the U.N. headquarters in Gaza Thursday along with damaged homes in the city. The delegation is expected to visit the Israeli city of Sderot on Friday.

Meanwhile, Kerry visited the remains of U.S. school in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday.

An unidentified representative of the senator told CNN the U.S. school had been destroyed during Israel's recent military actions in the Gaza Strip.

Karen Abu Zayd, head of the U.N. relief agency in Gaza, said Hamas gave the United Nations a letter to be passed to President Obama. She said the letter was given to Kerry but it was unclear whether Kerry accepted the missive, the BBC reported. There was no word on what the letter said.