Few Gazans have been allowed to cross the border into Egypt, and many have paid thousands of dollars to brokers, according to media reports. Cornered Gazans fear an Israeli attack on Rafah.
Gazan Few people have been allowed through the anti-Egyptian Rafah border crossing to the Egyptian side since the Gaza war was sparked by Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.
According to media reports, many of these people who have reached safety in the neighboring country have had to pay huge sums of money to shady Egyptian brokers for speeding up the border crossing.
Having reported on the matter in January of The Guardian according to the charges have risen to thousands of dollars per person. The network of investigative journalism also reports on the phenomenon OCCRP and a news site Middle East Eye.
Prices are slightly lower for children. All payments have been collected in cash, says Middle East Eye.
of the Guardian according to which the brokers have been suspected of having connections to the Egyptian intelligence services. Egypt denies that border crossers were charged extra fees.
From Rafah the profit-making network of brokers has been in operation for years before the outbreak of the war, says OCCRP. The war has raised the prices demanded by brokers sky high.
Pass prices for Palestinians have ranged from $4,500 to $10,000. Egyptian citizens can get by with a triple-digit sum.
The price level was determined by a joint investigation by OCCRP and the Egyptian ShaeehMasr media, where they interviewed 15 Palestinians and Egyptians who contacted the brokers.
A Palestinian boy wears a protective suit from the time of the coronavirus pandemic in the city of Khan Yunis in Gaza.
Suppliers of the people spoken to, two had gotten out of Gaza by paying the sum of $4,500 each. Three said they had been scammed and lost their money.
The rest tried to raise the necessary amount by, for example, selling gold items, borrowing or crowdfunding. Egyptian citizen interviewed by OCCRP Rasha31, was stuck in Gaza with her Palestinian husband and three children.
“We die in silence. It is very cold in our tent and we have no food. We live in constant fear and terror,” he said by phone from Gaza.
According to Rasha, getting the whole family across the border would cost $40,000, or about $37,000. The family can't afford that.
Israeli soldiers at the Gaza border on Friday.
Gazan about 1.7 million of the population have fled their homes from Israel's military operations. It is estimated that more than half of the buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed during the war, reported the BBC earlier this week.
The evacuees have concentrated in the southern parts of Gaza, especially in Rafah. The cornered Gazans fear that Israeli forces will soon invade the southern tip of the strip as well.
“Most of the population of Gaza is now in Rafah. If the tanks attack, it will be a massacre the likes of which we have not yet seen in this war.” , the father of six told news agency Reuters through the messaging application Emad55.
“Then we only have two options: stay here to die or climb over the walls to Egypt.”
According to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, more than 27,000 people have died in the Israeli attacks and ground operation in Gaza. According to Israel, nearly 1,200 people died in the Hamas surprise attack on Israel that started the war.
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