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For weeks, dozens of Egyptians with passports and IDs have been stranded in the Gaza Strip, growing more and more anxious for a chance to flee the confined area amid the continuous conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“We are staying here in front of the terminal. We have been sleeping here on the chairs for 25 days. There is no solution for us. Every day and every week there are lists of travellers (allowed to cross), but we are surprised that they are not Egyptian, they are Palestinian passport holders. Why? We are originally Egyptians and hold Egyptian passports. We were born in Egypt. Why do they treat us in this way? We want to return to our country to look after our work, and to return to our homeland,” said Hossam el-Dein Hafez, Egyptian passport holder.
Many Egyptians have fled their homes in Gaza and set up camp at the black metal gate on the southern border of the Palestinian territory since the start of the conflict, hoping to get away from Israel’s constant bombing.
In hopes of being granted permission to return to their native country, some people have taken to sleeping on chairs outside the crossing station.
“It’s only me, my mother and sister only. Nobody knocks on our door. My mother is an old lady. She is sick and spent one month in her bed, while we don’t know what to do to help her. We don’t have money to bring her medicine. Nobody helps us. My brother (in Egypt) goes to the embassy every day and has been promised that names will be on the list, but so far nothing happened. We want to travel. Since the war began, we were registered at the embassy. We want to travel. We were born there (Egypt) and never lived through wars here,” added Alana Omar, Egyptian passport holder.
Israel has been carrying out one of the most catastrophic military assaults in recent memory by continuing to pound Gaza from the air.
Following Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7 that claimed the lives of almost 1,200 people and took over 240 prisoners, the war broke out.
According to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, over 20,900 Palestinians have died since then, with two-thirds of them being women and children. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians among the dead.
