Israel reopened the Rafah crossing linking Gaza to Egypt to some pedestrian traffic.
The crossing has been largely closed since May 2024, when Israeli forces captured the Palestinian side, and its reopening is part of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But it still cannot be used to bring aid in, and though humanitarian support has increased via crossings from Israel, such assistance remains insufficient for the territory’s undernourished population.
A recently published US diplomatic memo from 2024 describes northern Gaza as an “apocalyptic wasteland,” and suggests any reconstruction will take decades, Reuters reported. The Hamas-run health ministry estimates that 71,000 people have died, a figure Israeli military sources have privately accepted, according to The Times of Israel.