Israel said on Wednesday that it had reopened the Zikim border crossing into northern Gaza, a longstanding request from aid organizations trying to bring more food, medicine and other relief into the devastated territory.
The truce between Israel and Hamas, which began in mid-October, has blunted the humanitarian crisis that has gripped Gaza for much of the two-year war. But aid workers say the needs are still enormous.
Since the cease-fire, most aid has gone through two major crossings into central and southern Gaza. Zikim, which channeled aid into the north, has been generally closed since September, when Israeli forces began a broad offensive into Gaza City.
Aid officials wanted Zikim opened to ferry more supplies into northern Gaza, which frequently had shortages during the war. This year, monitors backed by the United Nations said parts of northern Gaza were suffering from famine, a finding that Israel disputed.
Hundreds of trucks are now entering Gaza daily, although many are carrying commercial goods for sale rather than aid handouts. U.N. officials say they still face Israeli restrictions on what goods they can bring into Gaza.
Israel’s military campaign razed huge swaths of Gaza, leaving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in tents amid the rubble.
The cease-fire also carved Gaza in two for the time being, with Hamas controlling a pocket of territory along the coast and Israeli forces controlling a buffer zone in the other half. The enclave, already densely populated before the war, has become even more crowded, with the vast majority of residents hemmed into the half still controlled by Hamas.
“Living conditions in Gaza remain appalling,” Caroline Seguin, an official with the aid group Doctors Without Borders, said in a statement. “After being forcibly displaced repeatedly, many Palestinians are still living in makeshift tents and without access to running water and electricity, next to piles of rubbish and overflowing sewage.”
The World Bank has assessed the cost of rebuilding Gaza at more than $70 billion, and it is still unclear who might pay for it.
The United States has said funds for reconstruction will not go to the half of Gaza controlled by Hamas. Under a peace plan put forward by President Trump, the Palestinian militant group is supposed to lay down its arms, which it has shown little inclination to do so far.
For now, Israel says it is complying with the terms of the cease-fire by allowing hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid into the enclave daily.
Under the truce’s stipulations, Israel committed to allowing about 600 trucks of supplies per day into Gaza, which include both aid shipments and commercial goods for sale. Israel also agreed to authorize the import of equipment to repair infrastructure damaged in the war, and to reopen Gaza’s border with Egypt, the Rafah crossing, to allow Palestinians to travel.
Over a month into the cease-fire, however, Israel has yet to reopen the Rafah crossing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said last month that Israel would consider reopening the crossing if Hamas followed through with returning the bodies of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, according to the Israeli authorities. More than 200 others were seized as hostages and brought back to Gaza, touching off the two-year crisis.
Israel has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza during the war against Hamas, including thousands of children, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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