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Palestinian woman holds her child, waiting to cross a checkpoint
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RAFAH,
July 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – As an attempt to kill the
intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, the
Israelis have turned Rafah into the only gateway to the outside world
for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, leaving them no other
travel alternative.
Since
the international airport near Rafah was destroyed by the Israeli army
January 11, 2002, and the northern Erez terminal into Israel closed
down later the same month, the southern Gaza crossing point into Egypt
has become an unavoidable ordeal for Gazans wishing to travel abroad.
Before
the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupted in
September 2000, about 3,000 people a day used to cross the Rafah
terminal, while only between 100 and 200 now manage to squeeze
through, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
According
to a Palestinian security official, the Israeli authorities only open
the crossing five hours a day, while long and thorough searches result
in massive queues which can hold up travelers for up to a day.
Gazans
have to go through four Israeli army checkpoints before reaching the
passport check, not including the checkpoints which have chopped up
the Gaza Strip into three separate parts.
Hajj
Nagib, an ailing and elderly Palestinian, waited 24 hours to cross
into Egypt, where he is to receive medical treatment.
“The
Israeli measures are a real crime against humanity,” he says.
Describing
the Israeli treatment of Palestinians crossing the borders,
40-year-old Wael Medhat said “the entire way, from the first Israeli
checkpoint to the main [passport] checkroom, it is forbidden to open
car windows.”
Travelers
arrive on the Palestinian side at dawn to even stand a chance of
reaching Egypt the same day, but this tactic carries its own risks.
Frequent
overnight exchanges of fire between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli
forces over the flashpoint border zone often spill over into the early
hours of the morning, as was the case on Wael’s journey with his
family.
Returning
to Gaza is also not so easy.
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| A
Palestinian child waits at a checkpoint
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“Hundreds
of people have to wait for hours in long lines under the hot sun, and
some even have to sleep in the open air on the Egyptian side, since
Israel only allows four buses a day to pass,” said one man at the
passage.
“Once
aboard [the bus], our suffering continues. The bus is crowded with
more than 70 passengers, the windows are up, and we have to stay still
for hours at the Israeli passage,” he said.
“I've
named it the ‘bus of death,’” said Samia, a young pregnant woman
who came back to Gaza with her husband.
“I
was going to suffocate and I fainted twice. I wanted to take a week of
rest in Egypt, and I’ll need at least two weeks to recover from this
degrading journey,” she said.
Crossing
the borders is not the only suffering the Palestinians are facing
under Israeli occupation.
The
Palestinian people are currently facing continuing Israeli incursions
and curfews, which are causing severe damage to the Palestinian
economy, as people are unable to work or feed their families.
