Zikim crossing remains closed as only limited commercial goods enter Gaza
It’s been 24 hours since the announcement was made by the Israeli army to reopen the Zikim crossing. However, the crossing remains closed. There have been no signs of its reopening or that any of the trucks are making their way into the Gaza Strip.
This leaves the entire part of northern Gaza without proper crossings to allow much-needed humanitarian aid or commercial trucks into the area, impacting the daily life of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returning to parts of the northern Gaza Strip.
The Zikim crossing is one of seven ground crossings into Gaza. Only two of them are operational, and only a trickle of aid and commercial trucks over the past month … have been allowed into Gaza.
This goes against the narrative that the humanitarian situation on the ground is improving. Quite the contrary, things are getting more difficult. What’s available in the market … are non-essential [goods].
Palestinians in Gaza collect plastic from a landfill to use for cooking fires
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), almost all farmland in Gaza is either destroyed or inaccessible, with only a tiny fraction remaining undamaged.
Workers in Gaza begin restoring historic Pasha Palace damaged in war
Palestinian workers in Gaza City have begun restoration efforts at the historic Pasha Palace Museum, a centuries-old fortress-turned-museum that has been severely damaged during Israel’s war on the enclave.
Workers used only their hands and buckets to remove sand, debris and broken stone from the site, stacking reusable stones in one pile and rubble in another, as an Israeli drone hovered overhead.
UNESCO has identified damage at more than 100 cultural heritage sites since October 2023, including the Pasha Palace, the Saint Hilarion Monastery and Gaza City’s Omari Mosque.
The Pasha Palace Museum in Gaza City has been largely destroyed, with reports indicating that thousands of artifacts have disappeared following the invasion of the Old City of Gaza during the recent conflict. The current fate of most of the museum's collection is unknown.
Palestinian cultural heritage experts, such as Hamouda al-Dahdar, stated that before the war the palace contained more than 17,000 artifacts, all of which disappeared after the invasion.
The exact whereabouts or condition of the vast majority of the collection remain unclear. Some reports mention a video posted by the director of Israeli Antiquities of soldiers with ancient pottery in a separate warehouse, leading to accusations of pillaging, though an EBAF archaeologist stated there was no evidence of "state looting".
