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"Fleeing Hell to Live in Hell": leaving Gaza via the Rafah border crossing
# SiègeGaza
Bribery and checkpoints leaving the besieged band is an expensive, arduous and extremely difficult process for Palestinians
A young Palestinian on a bus is waiting to cross the Egyptian border from Gaza (Reuters)
Kaamil Ahmed
November 21, 2018
Last update :
November 21, 2018
redditgoogleplus85
GAZA BAND, Occupied Palestinian Territories - It is with pieces of cardboard, bags or on the ground that travelers rest their heads as they cross Rafah, the border crossing that has become the only operational gateway between the Strip. of Gaza under blockade and the outside world.
They find very little water, food, or relief from the heat during this first stage of a journey across Egypt, where thousands of people have been exposed in recent months and face a treatment that many would deem humiliating, between long hours spent in a series of wet and abandoned waiting halls and days of traveling through the desert aboard buses burdened by the heat.
To leave the Gaza Strip, its Palestinian residents spend almost a day in Rafah before buses carry them through the Sinai desert, then cross the Suez Canal by ferry and head to hospitals in Egypt or further to Cairo to access health care, education or employment.
In reality, this process is not so fluid; he knows jolts and in all cases, very few people find themselves even close to making the trip, many attempts being frustrated from the early stages by the generally closed border and waiting lists too long.
"It's like crossing the territory of an enemy"
- Ibrahim Ghunaim, rapper from Gaza
To avoid these lists, you have to pay someone, usually on the Egyptian side. These bribes have become increasingly common over the past six months, when the border has been open for periods unprecedented for several years, encouraging Palestinians to leave Gaza and those hoping to return. to cross the border.
"People who want to leave Gaza, they are fleeing hell to live in a hell in the Sinai desert," said Ibrahim Ghunaim, a Palestinian rapper who left the blockaded enclave to devote himself to his work, curbed in Gaza by the impossibility of traveling to occur.
To cross the desert, he had to spend four days waiting to cross checkpoints in the arid and militarized lands of Sinai.
"It's like crossing the territory of an enemy. "
Palestinians wait to enter Egyptian side of Rafah border crossing, Gaza (AFP)
Since May, the border has remained mostly open with a total of 133 opening days against 36 for the whole of 2017. The number of crossings in both directions has increased from month to month, from 1,500 in March to more 14,000 in August.
The Great March of Return, a protest organized every Friday since late March, considered the culmination of the pressure felt by young Palestinians in Gaza, where the unemployment rate is above 50% and where electricity works less than four hours a day, has been a catalyst for this change.
More than 200 Palestinians were killed and thousands more were injured during the protests, during which Israel routinely deploys live-fire snipers and uses tear gas and rubber bullets.
The walking Dead
With his plaster around his foot and the crutches that help him walk around, Arafat Abdo is regularly mistaken for one of those thousands of injured walkers in Gaza - protesters who have been sniped in the leg. In fact, he just sprained his ankle, but his injury has serious consequences for this hip-hop dancer who is already struggling to make a career in Gaza.
He joins his friends in the center of Gaza City, in a chipped paint hall where coffee and card games mingle, close to a former prison formerly administered by all who have recently ruled Gaza - Great Britain, Egypt, Israel and then Hamas - before being bombed during the 2008 war by Israeli forces. They are all part of the same collective of dancers and artists and feel that their talents are spoiled in the enclave.
"There is a generation of young people, their souls are destroyed. They do not want to give anything to society because they have nothing to offer. "
- Mojahed Elsusi, Palestinian from Gaza
"The main thing I want now is to leave Gaza," says Abdo. Jobs are rare for graduates, while alternatives such as dance do not always benefit from cultural acceptance.
"People do not understand, they ask," What are you doing? "
The reasons for departures are varied. Many are students who have obtained a place in a foreign university and even a visa, but who have not been able to leave Gaza, while others travel to work or obtain medical treatment. However, some are simply seduced by the idea of an opportunity beyond the border without having planned anything.
"There is a generation of young people, their souls are destroyed. They do not want to give anything to society because they have nothing to offer, "said Mojahed Elsusi, a friend of Abdo.
Their collective, al-Watan, ("The Nation"), created a play around a concept portraying the population of the enclave as mummies because "the inhabitants of Gaza are undead" , they argue.
The recent opening of Rafah and the unofficial bribe-based system suits many of them. The official waiting list managed by the Gaza Ministry of the Interior is burdened by high-priority medical cases that make it difficult for many of the most desperate residents, including the long-term sick.
The only alternative is the Erez border crossing, managed by Israel. Officially, it is open more regularly but to some people only. Permits are mainly issued for health reasons or, in some cases, to businessmen or Palestinians employed by international organizations.
In fact, the number of permits of all types has decreased lately. Some were rejected because of links with Hamas members, and several high-profile arrests targeted licensed and apprehended persons while crossing Erez, including senior humanitarian workers in international organizations.
"Even if I have to pick up trash in the street for a year to collect the money, I will," said Elsusi.
The feeling that Erez is almost impassable for the majority of Gaza's population has made Rafah all the more important in the collective imagination. Talks involving Hamas, whether with Israel, with the rival Palestinian Authority or previously with the highly-exiled man Mohammed Dahlan have often left open the prospect of the opening of Rafah.
But the years of talks have never kept this promise alive, forcing Gazan travelers to wait for limited days to open the border and rely on the payment system that increases their chances of success.
"Even if I have to pick up trash in the street for a year to collect the money, I will," said Elsusi.
The coordination "
To describe how they left Gaza, travelers quickly came to talk about tansiq ("coordination"), referring to the bribes that facilitate crossing the Rafah crossing.
The money is collected by intermediaries in Gaza and then transferred to Egyptian agents with whom they are in contact, an anonymous travel agent who works near Rafah told Middle East Eye and facilitated some of the payments. Sometimes intermediaries are travel agents, sometimes people who simply have good relationships.
"He did not have a tourist agency, but a point of sale for doors and glass. [In fact,] it was dedicated to travel, "said Mahmoud * to describe how he was redirected to a man who could help him cross Rafah after losing a university scholarship twice due to the closure. from the border.
READ ► Removed, arrested or missing? Gazans are missing after crossing Rafah
He negotiated $ 1,200 instead of the $ 1,500 that became the average price. Some said they paid almost double that amount, especially during the first days of opening Rafah, while travelers still did not know if they would have enough time to go out. The travel agent confirmed that some payments had reached $ 4,000 in the past.
The long opening of Rafah has prompted more Palestinians like Mahmoud to leave Gaza. When the necessary funds exceed their means, they borrow or sell their property to flee.
"In fact, I did not have $ 1,200, but I borrowed about $ 500 from a friend and so far I have not really been able to pay them back," he said.
Mahmoud explained that he was afraid of the process as a whole and that he did not like his illegality but that he had no choice if he did not want to give up his last chance to win the scholarship studies. Many people in Gaza are in this same state of mind, which has contributed to the flourishing of this informal system.
"It's not affordable, it's a big [sum of money], [but] we've agreed to pay that in absolute terms because people have an extreme need to go abroad, because 'they are very sick, because they are about to lose a scholarship or a work permit abroad,' told MEE a head of an international agency who was not allowed to talk to the media .
But the impact of this process on other travelers, who can not afford to pay and must rely on the official process set up by Hamas, is also causing concern.
A report released in October by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted that after several months of increased attendance at Rafah, the number of people on the waiting list remained limited to 23. 000 , a decrease of only 7,000 from the previous figure.
"They think they will make the VIP crossing, but they are shocked by the treatment they receive, even with coordination, because they are Palestinian."
- A travel agent
The report described "confused and obscure" official procedures at the border and pointed out that people who had been registered for more than eight months were still waiting, while more recent candidates for the crossing had crossed the border in less than a month. He also noted that the number of sorties recorded each day during sporadic and more limited Rafah openings in the past had been reduced by half.
Bribes help Palestinians trying to leave Gaza out of the enclave but do not necessarily change the nature of the border crossing.
"They think they will do the VIP crossing, but they are shocked by the treatment they receive, even with coordination, because they are Palestinian," said the travel agent. The treatment they undergo is the same as for any other citizen, they witness injustices and insults. "
The images of the chaos of Rafah are repeated at each opening of the border, with endless queues. Even those who end up on the Hamas-managed waiting list do not know exactly when they will cross the border and have to resort to lists posted unofficially on Facebook pages.
Those who pay can avoid this step but must still go through the waiting halls of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority before entering the Egyptian section, where the happiest sleep on plastic benches and the others on pieces of cardboard until border and intelligence officers end up issuing stamped passports, calling people to question or repress unfortunate candidates.
Palestinian boy sleeps while family waiting to move to Egypt (Reuters)
Conditions encountered during returns can be as bad if not worse for some. Travelers and officials confirmed that detention measures had been implemented in a waiting hall at Cairo airport for those returning from a trip abroad. If a bus is supposed to transport them directly to Rafah, the head of an international agency said that waiting until the bus was filled could last several days, especially at weekends, when the buses are not in use. or in case of closure of Rafah.
They added that passengers could also be returned to their country of origin if Rafah was closed, while stressing that one of the main benefits of more regular border activity was the end of this practice.
In Rafah, another waiting area is reserved for Palestinians who have already been to Cairo and Sinai and who have almost returned home. They must arrive before 11 am, but usually can not go out to Gaza before dark.
"A three-day business trip cost me over fifty days of suffering and problems"
- A travel agent
"Why do I have to wait twelve hours when I just have to stamp my passport and let me enter Palestine? It should take less time, not more than an hour, "said Khalid *, who returned to Gaza in September after traveling to Egypt for medical treatment. Egyptian officials told him they only treat travelers returning to Gaza after handling hundreds of departing applicants.
While the long opening hours of Rafah have resulted in an increase in the number of Palestinians leaving Gaza, they have also encouraged those who previously were not sure they could return.
While the number of departures from Gaza has suddenly increased since May, the number of returns has increased more gradually before finally exceeding the number of sorties , with more than 7,100 admissions to Gaza against 6,100 sorties in September. In comparison, the number of people leaving Gaza accounted for 77% of traffic at the Rafah border crossing in May and June.
The travel agent said that when he returned from a trip to a foreign conference, he planned to arrive in Gaza in time to celebrate the religious holiday of Eid with his family, even paying a leader. Egyptian to leave the airport and avoid waiting for a collective bus to the border.
However, Rafah was closed and he had to spend a month in a hotel in Cairo. When he finally made it to Rafah, he arrived at dawn but had to wait all day in the waiting room at the border.
"No water, no food, no services, children sick of heat, no fans and an Egyptian policeman who drinks his tea while watching us," he said.
"Then at night, they started stamping the passports and throwing them in the air," he explains, imitating the officer's nonchalant gestures.
"A three-day business trip cost me over fifty days of suffering and problems. "
Days spent in the desert
In more peaceful times, the road that crosses the Sinai Peninsula runs through an arid landscape that runs for hours. But the conflict in Sinai, where the Egyptian army has attacked militants allied with the Islamic State, has lengthened the trip by forcing passengers to cross dozens of military checkpoints.
"We have the impression that our brothers, the Arabs, are even more rotten than Israel. Muslims are against us »
- Ibrahim Ghunaim, Palestinian rapper
The latter, whose number could rise to 36, put the Palestinians in the most dangerous part of Sinai, where fighting is concentrated in the northeast corner of the peninsula, between Rafah and El-Arich. All Palestinians stop at El-Arich, return to Gaza - in which case they must sleep there to wait for the end of the Sinai curfew - or be on their way to Cairo. This site which houses the main checkpoint of the region is also the target of frequent attacks.
Satellite imagery shows how the landscape of Palestinians in Gaza has been transformed by insurgency, especially last year when Egypt launched Operation Sinai 2018 with the aim of " ridding Egyptian territory of terrorists ".
READ ► "I prefer to die at home": how the military campaign in Sinai starves the population
While the traffic once crossed the cities of North Sinai like Sheikh Zuweid, located between Rafah and El-Arich, the roads were emptied of their cars, even parked, while the large intersections were transformed into checkpoints made narrow by land embankments and parked armored vehicles.
Experiences at these checkpoints may vary. According to Ibrahim Ghunaim, passengers are "treated like animals".
"We have the impression that our brothers, the Arabs, are even more rotten than Israel. Muslims are against us. It is the biggest camp of the siege of Gaza. We have the impression that we are nothing in the world, "he said.
Egyptian soldiers in the Egyptian part of Rafah (AFP)
Others, however, described a warm local population sympathizing with Palestinians leaving Gaza.
"Sometimes, when the Egyptian army knows we are Palestinian, they make things easier for us," says Khalid. It's something we appreciate. "
The delays encountered during the trip were compounded by the closure in 2013 of the al-Salam bridge crossing the Suez Canal, which now requires everyone to take a ferry to cross the waterway and reach mainland Egypt. Overall, Palestinians say that the time spent crossing checkpoints and waiting for buses and ferries turned a bus ride of about seven hours from Rafah to Cairo into a journey that could last up to five hours. four days.
Waiting in Cairo
After spending four days waiting for buses and ferries and waiting at border crossings and checkpoints, Ghunaim had only one day left in Cairo before leaving the airport for Tunisia, where he works. on his music with local artists.
"The life of the people of Gaza in Egypt is really chaotic"
- Mahmoud, Palestinian
However, many people have to wait a lot longer. Some have to wait for a visa that is difficult to obtain in a country where they have a minor status, even when they are invited to work or study abroad, while others simply want to know what they will do next. .
Mahmoud spent three weeks in Cairo after his trip to Sinai; he found a room in an apartment shared with other Palestinians who had paid for the tansiq . Many of them had trouble finding what they would do next, he said.
READ ► Teen in Gaza, I want peace and a normal life, just like you
"If you really want to leave Gaza, you have to leave knowing what you are doing. It was really a sad truth, "he said.
"They want a change because the situation in Gaza is immutable. They just want to leave to see Egypt and try to find new opportunities [...] Some of them pass through the Egyptian airport to Europe to seek asylum, but most of them are sent back to Gaza because the airport of Cairo refuses to let them enter the planes for lack of visa. "
"The life of the people of Gaza in Egypt is really chaotic. "
* Some names have been changed to protect the anonymity of the sources.
# SiègeGaza
Bribery and checkpoints leaving the besieged band is an expensive, arduous and extremely difficult process for Palestinians
A young Palestinian on a bus is waiting to cross the Egyptian border from Gaza (Reuters)
Kaamil Ahmed
November 21, 2018
Last update :
November 21, 2018
redditgoogleplus85
GAZA BAND, Occupied Palestinian Territories - It is with pieces of cardboard, bags or on the ground that travelers rest their heads as they cross Rafah, the border crossing that has become the only operational gateway between the Strip. of Gaza under blockade and the outside world.
They find very little water, food, or relief from the heat during this first stage of a journey across Egypt, where thousands of people have been exposed in recent months and face a treatment that many would deem humiliating, between long hours spent in a series of wet and abandoned waiting halls and days of traveling through the desert aboard buses burdened by the heat.
To leave the Gaza Strip, its Palestinian residents spend almost a day in Rafah before buses carry them through the Sinai desert, then cross the Suez Canal by ferry and head to hospitals in Egypt or further to Cairo to access health care, education or employment.
In reality, this process is not so fluid; he knows jolts and in all cases, very few people find themselves even close to making the trip, many attempts being frustrated from the early stages by the generally closed border and waiting lists too long.
"It's like crossing the territory of an enemy"
- Ibrahim Ghunaim, rapper from Gaza
To avoid these lists, you have to pay someone, usually on the Egyptian side. These bribes have become increasingly common over the past six months, when the border has been open for periods unprecedented for several years, encouraging Palestinians to leave Gaza and those hoping to return. to cross the border.
"People who want to leave Gaza, they are fleeing hell to live in a hell in the Sinai desert," said Ibrahim Ghunaim, a Palestinian rapper who left the blockaded enclave to devote himself to his work, curbed in Gaza by the impossibility of traveling to occur.
To cross the desert, he had to spend four days waiting to cross checkpoints in the arid and militarized lands of Sinai.
"It's like crossing the territory of an enemy. "
Since May, the border has remained mostly open with a total of 133 opening days against 36 for the whole of 2017. The number of crossings in both directions has increased from month to month, from 1,500 in March to more 14,000 in August.
The Great March of Return, a protest organized every Friday since late March, considered the culmination of the pressure felt by young Palestinians in Gaza, where the unemployment rate is above 50% and where electricity works less than four hours a day, has been a catalyst for this change.
More than 200 Palestinians were killed and thousands more were injured during the protests, during which Israel routinely deploys live-fire snipers and uses tear gas and rubber bullets.
The walking Dead
With his plaster around his foot and the crutches that help him walk around, Arafat Abdo is regularly mistaken for one of those thousands of injured walkers in Gaza - protesters who have been sniped in the leg. In fact, he just sprained his ankle, but his injury has serious consequences for this hip-hop dancer who is already struggling to make a career in Gaza.
He joins his friends in the center of Gaza City, in a chipped paint hall where coffee and card games mingle, close to a former prison formerly administered by all who have recently ruled Gaza - Great Britain, Egypt, Israel and then Hamas - before being bombed during the 2008 war by Israeli forces. They are all part of the same collective of dancers and artists and feel that their talents are spoiled in the enclave.
"There is a generation of young people, their souls are destroyed. They do not want to give anything to society because they have nothing to offer. "
- Mojahed Elsusi, Palestinian from Gaza
"The main thing I want now is to leave Gaza," says Abdo. Jobs are rare for graduates, while alternatives such as dance do not always benefit from cultural acceptance.
"People do not understand, they ask," What are you doing? "
The reasons for departures are varied. Many are students who have obtained a place in a foreign university and even a visa, but who have not been able to leave Gaza, while others travel to work or obtain medical treatment. However, some are simply seduced by the idea of an opportunity beyond the border without having planned anything.
"There is a generation of young people, their souls are destroyed. They do not want to give anything to society because they have nothing to offer, "said Mojahed Elsusi, a friend of Abdo.
Their collective, al-Watan, ("The Nation"), created a play around a concept portraying the population of the enclave as mummies because "the inhabitants of Gaza are undead" , they argue.
The recent opening of Rafah and the unofficial bribe-based system suits many of them. The official waiting list managed by the Gaza Ministry of the Interior is burdened by high-priority medical cases that make it difficult for many of the most desperate residents, including the long-term sick.
The only alternative is the Erez border crossing, managed by Israel. Officially, it is open more regularly but to some people only. Permits are mainly issued for health reasons or, in some cases, to businessmen or Palestinians employed by international organizations.
In fact, the number of permits of all types has decreased lately. Some were rejected because of links with Hamas members, and several high-profile arrests targeted licensed and apprehended persons while crossing Erez, including senior humanitarian workers in international organizations.
"Even if I have to pick up trash in the street for a year to collect the money, I will," said Elsusi.
The feeling that Erez is almost impassable for the majority of Gaza's population has made Rafah all the more important in the collective imagination. Talks involving Hamas, whether with Israel, with the rival Palestinian Authority or previously with the highly-exiled man Mohammed Dahlan have often left open the prospect of the opening of Rafah.
But the years of talks have never kept this promise alive, forcing Gazan travelers to wait for limited days to open the border and rely on the payment system that increases their chances of success.
"Even if I have to pick up trash in the street for a year to collect the money, I will," said Elsusi.
The coordination "
To describe how they left Gaza, travelers quickly came to talk about tansiq ("coordination"), referring to the bribes that facilitate crossing the Rafah crossing.
The money is collected by intermediaries in Gaza and then transferred to Egyptian agents with whom they are in contact, an anonymous travel agent who works near Rafah told Middle East Eye and facilitated some of the payments. Sometimes intermediaries are travel agents, sometimes people who simply have good relationships.
"He did not have a tourist agency, but a point of sale for doors and glass. [In fact,] it was dedicated to travel, "said Mahmoud * to describe how he was redirected to a man who could help him cross Rafah after losing a university scholarship twice due to the closure. from the border.
READ ► Removed, arrested or missing? Gazans are missing after crossing Rafah
He negotiated $ 1,200 instead of the $ 1,500 that became the average price. Some said they paid almost double that amount, especially during the first days of opening Rafah, while travelers still did not know if they would have enough time to go out. The travel agent confirmed that some payments had reached $ 4,000 in the past.
The long opening of Rafah has prompted more Palestinians like Mahmoud to leave Gaza. When the necessary funds exceed their means, they borrow or sell their property to flee.
"In fact, I did not have $ 1,200, but I borrowed about $ 500 from a friend and so far I have not really been able to pay them back," he said.
Mahmoud explained that he was afraid of the process as a whole and that he did not like his illegality but that he had no choice if he did not want to give up his last chance to win the scholarship studies. Many people in Gaza are in this same state of mind, which has contributed to the flourishing of this informal system.
"It's not affordable, it's a big [sum of money], [but] we've agreed to pay that in absolute terms because people have an extreme need to go abroad, because 'they are very sick, because they are about to lose a scholarship or a work permit abroad,' told MEE a head of an international agency who was not allowed to talk to the media .
But the impact of this process on other travelers, who can not afford to pay and must rely on the official process set up by Hamas, is also causing concern.
A report released in October by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted that after several months of increased attendance at Rafah, the number of people on the waiting list remained limited to 23. 000 , a decrease of only 7,000 from the previous figure.
"They think they will make the VIP crossing, but they are shocked by the treatment they receive, even with coordination, because they are Palestinian."
- A travel agent
The report described "confused and obscure" official procedures at the border and pointed out that people who had been registered for more than eight months were still waiting, while more recent candidates for the crossing had crossed the border in less than a month. He also noted that the number of sorties recorded each day during sporadic and more limited Rafah openings in the past had been reduced by half.
Bribes help Palestinians trying to leave Gaza out of the enclave but do not necessarily change the nature of the border crossing.
"They think they will do the VIP crossing, but they are shocked by the treatment they receive, even with coordination, because they are Palestinian," said the travel agent. The treatment they undergo is the same as for any other citizen, they witness injustices and insults. "
The images of the chaos of Rafah are repeated at each opening of the border, with endless queues. Even those who end up on the Hamas-managed waiting list do not know exactly when they will cross the border and have to resort to lists posted unofficially on Facebook pages.
Those who pay can avoid this step but must still go through the waiting halls of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority before entering the Egyptian section, where the happiest sleep on plastic benches and the others on pieces of cardboard until border and intelligence officers end up issuing stamped passports, calling people to question or repress unfortunate candidates.
Conditions encountered during returns can be as bad if not worse for some. Travelers and officials confirmed that detention measures had been implemented in a waiting hall at Cairo airport for those returning from a trip abroad. If a bus is supposed to transport them directly to Rafah, the head of an international agency said that waiting until the bus was filled could last several days, especially at weekends, when the buses are not in use. or in case of closure of Rafah.
They added that passengers could also be returned to their country of origin if Rafah was closed, while stressing that one of the main benefits of more regular border activity was the end of this practice.
In Rafah, another waiting area is reserved for Palestinians who have already been to Cairo and Sinai and who have almost returned home. They must arrive before 11 am, but usually can not go out to Gaza before dark.
"A three-day business trip cost me over fifty days of suffering and problems"
- A travel agent
"Why do I have to wait twelve hours when I just have to stamp my passport and let me enter Palestine? It should take less time, not more than an hour, "said Khalid *, who returned to Gaza in September after traveling to Egypt for medical treatment. Egyptian officials told him they only treat travelers returning to Gaza after handling hundreds of departing applicants.
While the long opening hours of Rafah have resulted in an increase in the number of Palestinians leaving Gaza, they have also encouraged those who previously were not sure they could return.
While the number of departures from Gaza has suddenly increased since May, the number of returns has increased more gradually before finally exceeding the number of sorties , with more than 7,100 admissions to Gaza against 6,100 sorties in September. In comparison, the number of people leaving Gaza accounted for 77% of traffic at the Rafah border crossing in May and June.
The travel agent said that when he returned from a trip to a foreign conference, he planned to arrive in Gaza in time to celebrate the religious holiday of Eid with his family, even paying a leader. Egyptian to leave the airport and avoid waiting for a collective bus to the border.
However, Rafah was closed and he had to spend a month in a hotel in Cairo. When he finally made it to Rafah, he arrived at dawn but had to wait all day in the waiting room at the border.
"No water, no food, no services, children sick of heat, no fans and an Egyptian policeman who drinks his tea while watching us," he said.
"Then at night, they started stamping the passports and throwing them in the air," he explains, imitating the officer's nonchalant gestures.
"A three-day business trip cost me over fifty days of suffering and problems. "
Days spent in the desert
In more peaceful times, the road that crosses the Sinai Peninsula runs through an arid landscape that runs for hours. But the conflict in Sinai, where the Egyptian army has attacked militants allied with the Islamic State, has lengthened the trip by forcing passengers to cross dozens of military checkpoints.
"We have the impression that our brothers, the Arabs, are even more rotten than Israel. Muslims are against us »
- Ibrahim Ghunaim, Palestinian rapper
The latter, whose number could rise to 36, put the Palestinians in the most dangerous part of Sinai, where fighting is concentrated in the northeast corner of the peninsula, between Rafah and El-Arich. All Palestinians stop at El-Arich, return to Gaza - in which case they must sleep there to wait for the end of the Sinai curfew - or be on their way to Cairo. This site which houses the main checkpoint of the region is also the target of frequent attacks.
Satellite imagery shows how the landscape of Palestinians in Gaza has been transformed by insurgency, especially last year when Egypt launched Operation Sinai 2018 with the aim of " ridding Egyptian territory of terrorists ".
READ ► "I prefer to die at home": how the military campaign in Sinai starves the population
While the traffic once crossed the cities of North Sinai like Sheikh Zuweid, located between Rafah and El-Arich, the roads were emptied of their cars, even parked, while the large intersections were transformed into checkpoints made narrow by land embankments and parked armored vehicles.
Experiences at these checkpoints may vary. According to Ibrahim Ghunaim, passengers are "treated like animals".
"We have the impression that our brothers, the Arabs, are even more rotten than Israel. Muslims are against us. It is the biggest camp of the siege of Gaza. We have the impression that we are nothing in the world, "he said.
Others, however, described a warm local population sympathizing with Palestinians leaving Gaza.
"Sometimes, when the Egyptian army knows we are Palestinian, they make things easier for us," says Khalid. It's something we appreciate. "
The delays encountered during the trip were compounded by the closure in 2013 of the al-Salam bridge crossing the Suez Canal, which now requires everyone to take a ferry to cross the waterway and reach mainland Egypt. Overall, Palestinians say that the time spent crossing checkpoints and waiting for buses and ferries turned a bus ride of about seven hours from Rafah to Cairo into a journey that could last up to five hours. four days.
Waiting in Cairo
After spending four days waiting for buses and ferries and waiting at border crossings and checkpoints, Ghunaim had only one day left in Cairo before leaving the airport for Tunisia, where he works. on his music with local artists.
"The life of the people of Gaza in Egypt is really chaotic"
- Mahmoud, Palestinian
However, many people have to wait a lot longer. Some have to wait for a visa that is difficult to obtain in a country where they have a minor status, even when they are invited to work or study abroad, while others simply want to know what they will do next. .
Mahmoud spent three weeks in Cairo after his trip to Sinai; he found a room in an apartment shared with other Palestinians who had paid for the tansiq . Many of them had trouble finding what they would do next, he said.
READ ► Teen in Gaza, I want peace and a normal life, just like you
"If you really want to leave Gaza, you have to leave knowing what you are doing. It was really a sad truth, "he said.
"They want a change because the situation in Gaza is immutable. They just want to leave to see Egypt and try to find new opportunities [...] Some of them pass through the Egyptian airport to Europe to seek asylum, but most of them are sent back to Gaza because the airport of Cairo refuses to let them enter the planes for lack of visa. "
"The life of the people of Gaza in Egypt is really chaotic. "
* Some names have been changed to protect the anonymity of the sources.
