Rafah crossing

Palestinian patients wait in the grounds of the Red Crescent Hospital to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip via the Rafah Crossing with Egypt for medical treatment abroad, Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, February 2, 2026. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
‘I would never do it again’: Inside the struggle to enter and leave Gaza
A trickle of Palestinians have passed through Rafah Crossing since its partial reopening. Those returning face intimidation by Israeli soldiers and the Abu Shabab gang, as well as the confiscation of their belongings.
By Ruwaida Amer February 13, 2026
Palestinians who fled their homes wait at the Rafah border crossing to Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 14, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
In Egypt, Gazans endure ‘unbearable’ life with little support
Over 100,000 Palestinians have fled to Egypt during the war. Feeling stranded by the state and the PA, they describe a precarious existence in legal limbo.
By Hadi Rami November 22, 2024
Displaced Palestinians seen around their tents in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. (Ali Hassan/Flash90)
How do I comfort the loved ones I left behind in Gaza?
Whenever I hear the voices of friends and relatives, I am overwhelmed with helplessness. My words feel empty in the face of their suffering.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha October 17, 2024
Latest
The bodies of 88 unidentified Palestinians are buried in a mass grave in Khan Younis, after Israeli forces returned them to Gaza severely decomposed and without any identification, September 26, 2024. (Doaa Albaz/Activestills)
After a year of terror in Gaza, our souls feel suspended in time
I’ve cheated death, mourned friends, and lost my livelihood. Just when I was on the cusp of leaving this torment, Israel shut our last crossing to the world.
By Ruwaida Amer October 5, 2024
Displaced Palestinians living in tents shelter in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, August 4, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
The daily battles to survive the Gaza genocide
Making tents out of aid parachutes, waiting days for a tin of beans, re-digging graves to bury more martyrs: here's what Palestinians have to overcome.
By Yousef Aljamal August 14, 2024
Marah Mahdi with her niece near her family's tent in Rafah. (Marah Mahdi/Instagram)
A Gaza journalist’s agonizing search for safety
From Gaza City to Rafah, Marah Mahdi and her family have been displaced 11 times since October. Yet surviving each Israeli attack brings little solace.
By Mohammed R. Mhawish and Asmaa Yassin June 4, 2024
Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 7, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
‘The scenes of the Nakba are repeating’: Rafah in panic as Israeli invasion begins
With Israeli forces entering Gaza’s southernmost city, Palestinians describe their hardships and fears in the Strip’s last vanishing refuge.
By Ruwaida Amer and Mahmoud Mushtaha May 8, 2024
Israeli soldiers seen near the Gaza fence, southern Israel, January 7, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Laying the groundwork for Gaza’s permanent exodus
With Egypt reportedly preparing for an influx of refugees and UNRWA on the brink of collapse, Israel’s second Nakba fantasies could soon become reality.
By Samer Badawi February 19, 2024
Palestinians with foreign passports leave Gaza to Egypt via the Rafah Crossing, southern Gaza Strip, February 6, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
‘We try every day to escape’: Palestinians struggle to afford Gaza exit fees
With private brokers charging thousands of dollars to coordinate passage through Rafah Crossing, most Gazans are being priced out of safety.
By Ruwaida Amer February 8, 2024
Palestinians who fled their homes wait at the Rafah border crossing to Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip, October 14, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
‘My children tell me to pray for them’: The Gazans stranded in Egypt
Thousands of Gaza residents have been stuck on the other side of the border crossing since Oct. 7, unable to return and sick with worry for their families.
By Ruwaida Amer October 31, 2023
Palestinians at a temporary tent camp set up for people who evacuated from their homes, on the grounds of an UNRWA school in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 19, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Is Israel preparing another Nakba for Gaza?
Forcing Palestinians out of the besieged strip seemed unthinkable weeks ago. But Israel’s war suggests that efforts may be underway to see it through.
By Samer Badawi October 19, 2023
Palestinians wait to cross the Rafah Border Crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, January 29, 2019. (Activestills/Mohammed Zaanoun)
Feeling less than human: The hell of crossing into Gaza
My Palestinian ID means I’m one of few able to enter the besieged Gaza Strip. But the journey via Egypt requires submitting to days of arbitrary humiliation.
By Hebh Jamal August 26, 2022
Palestinian students during a graduation ceremony in Ramallah, the West Bank, May 29, 2011. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
The painful price Gazans must pay for a Cambridge education
Being Palestinian from Gaza demands heartache, resilience, and luck to take on the obstacles of getting an education away from an occupied home.
By Tala Shurrab November 27, 2020
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