Reaching the border: visit to the Rafah crossing
Mamduh Chalil Abu Jasar made his first journey across the border in this war two weeks ago. A grenade had exploded near the school where he and his family had sought shelter, and his severe head and brain injury required urgent treatment. The hospital in Al-Arish in Egypt is better equipped than those in the Gaza Strip, where beds are becoming increasingly scarce and the number of victims is growing. He was one of a few hundred injured people allowed out.
Mamduh Chalil Abu Jasar made his second journey across the border in this war on Monday - back to Gaza, because he died in Al-Arish. His son Hamada stands under the archway of the Rafah border crossing, next to him the neon yellow ambulance with his father's body. "His will was to be buried in Gaza," says Hamada. "Because he was born there and because his family is there and because he was attached to his country." Then they drive in.
Between safe haven and combat zone
Rafah is a symbol of so many things in these weeks of war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. The bottleneck for aid supplies. A place of hope for emigrants and hostages. The lobby to the safe haven or the entrance to the combat zone - depending on which side you are on.
In the occasional ups and frequent downs of the Middle East conflict, Rafah also reflected the political situation at the time. In better times, people and goods crossed the border to and from Gaza, then again they did not. Since Hamas took power there in 2007 and Israel tightened its blockade of the area, the border has been open for almost as many days as it has been closed. After the start of the war on October 7, nothing worked for weeks; now, during a ceasefire, 200 trucks entered Gaza in one day.
Israel has always justified its strict controls on imports and exports with the aim of isolating Hamas and preventing its strengthening and the smuggling of weapons.
At the same time, the World Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) came to the conclusion before the war began that the blockade had undermined Gaza's economy and made 80 percent of the population dependent on humanitarian aid. That is why the trucks continue to roll, 500 a day before October 7
For Egypt, the trucks are a kind of proof, weighing tons, that they stand by their Palestinian "brothers and sisters". Hundreds of trucks are lined up along the highway to Rafah. "That's nothing yet," says Aiman Wallasch, head of the press office that has invited journalists to the border. Not far away, cargo planes from Qatar and Iraq land in Al-Arish, forklift trucks make their rounds and line up the next pallets: Medicine, rice, winter kits, mattresses. "They are going through the same thing (in Gaza) that we went through - war, terror," says an Iraqi air force captain whose plane is being unloaded.
Lots of aid in, few Palestinians out
What Wallasch does not say is that Egypt wants a lot of aid in, but few Palestinians to leave permanently. Unlike Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, the country has not set up any refugee camps for Palestinians. What Egypt does have is a colossal economic crisis, hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and Sudan, for example, and a presidential election less than two weeks away.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi links the concern that large flows of the 2.2 million people living in Gaza could come through Rafah with nothing less than the warning that his country could become a new front line for war. The "fighting" against Israel would only move to the Sinai, Egypt would become a launch pad for new attacks against Israel and then become a target itself, according to the head of state.
Palestinians who still want to leave Gaza via Rafah have to wait a very long time - or pay a lot of money. Years ago, there were already reports from Gaza about representatives of "travel agencies" and "brokers" who allegedly collaborate with Egyptian authorities and put travelers on VIP lists for a lot of money. The prices are said to have risen even further and amount to up to 4,500 dollars per person for a guaranteed exit via Rafah. A family of eight in Gaza reported that they had to pay 21,000 dollars. This is about 15 times the average annual income of a household in Gaza.
Fresh fish and car parts
In - or rather under - Rafah, people have experience of getting help through unofficial channels. After 2007, Hamas began digging hundreds of tunnels from Gaza to Egypt in order to circumvent Israel's blockade. Detergent, cell phones, fresh fish, car parts, a lion for the zoo - pretty much everything was smuggled under Rafah that couldn't get to Gaza via Rafah. At its peak, the tunnel business is said to have accounted for 15,000 direct jobs and provided Hamas with annual revenues in the millions.
Al-Sisi put an end to this. Because weapons from Gaza are also said to have reached extremists in North Sinai through the tunnels, Rafah was declared a security problem, destroyed and the tunnels flooded. 2,000 families were displaced and military buffer zones were established and expanded. Today, the journey to the border leads through more and more new checkpoints, and a few kilometers before Rafah, soldiers stand ready on a sandy track with around 50 tanks.
A wet wind blows on the forecourt of the border. The war did not pass without a trace here either, for example when Egypt declared in October that Israeli warplanes had bombed the crossing four times and slightly injured several border soldiers. The Israeli military spoke of an oversight and apologized for the incident. But now there is a ceasefire. The soldiers have received their lunch in polystyrene boxes and retire to their jeeps, munching away.
For Amr Mohsen, this daily routine begins at 5.00 am. Then he and his colleagues stand here with their yellow ambulances and wait to see if they can pick up a few more injured people. Like a girl who is now in hospital in Al-Arish. White bandages cover her head and upper body, the badly injured half of her face hangs limply. In front of her wheelchair, a nurse waves a balloon around to cheer her up. There is no sign that she is alive.
The conflicts in Gaza war have led to many Palestinians seeking refuge and aid at the Rafah border crossing. Despite the ceasefire, the border has historically been open for fewer days than closed due to the Israeli blockade and Hamas's control of Gaza.
During the Gaza war, the Rafah border crossing served as a symbol of hope for many Palestinians seeking to leave the conflict zone but faced numerous challenges in doing so. These challenges include long wait times and exorbitant fees for a guaranteed exit, making it difficult for many to leave permanently.
Source: www.dpa.com
