Egypt eases restrictions for Gazans travelling through Rafah crossing

Egypt decided to ease up on travel restrictions for Gazans through the Rafah crossing to Cairo, a Gaza-based official said on Thursday.

Speaking to The New Arab, Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas government's media office, said that "the Egyptian authorities informed his government that travel facilities through the Fah crossing will begin next Saturday."

According to Maarouf, travellers will be transported through the Rafah crossing back and forth via "well-equipped" and "reasonably priced" buses (amounting to around US$35) through the "Long Live Egypt" tunnel.

Maarouf noted the new procedures were among the items discussed during the recent visit by Issam al-Daalis, who heads the government works department in Gaza to Cairo.

Such facilitation shortens a lot of "travellers' suffering" since "many roadblocks will be bypassed without the need to pass through the ferryboat, which is a checkpoint for travellers, all at a reasonable price compared to the cost of normal travel," he said.

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The "ferryboat checkpoint" is considered one of the most difficult for Palestinian travellers as many are held for long hours waiting for their turn to be inspected in an inhumane atmosphere without bathrooms, food, drink, or even a place to rest.

Travel through the Rafah crossing includes categories of patients, holders of foreign and Egyptian passports, residence permits, and students.

The Hamas-run Ministry of Interior in Gaza says that thousands of humanitarian cases want to leave the Strip.

The Rafah crossing is the only exit to the outside world for the residents of the Gaza Strip, which is home to about two million people.

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The Egyptian step was widely welcomed by travellers and activists on social media, several remarking it as a sign of improvement.

Nour Bashir, a 23-year-old young woman from Khan Yunis, expressed her joy that she will be able to travel without fear during the next week.

"I am scheduled to travel next week for the first time in my life, but I was very afraid of the difficulties that travellers face on their way to Cairo," Bashir says.

"I am really lucky because I will not have to face situations that may insult my human dignity",  she further expressed her hope that she will have a happy journey to Egypt.

But for Hedaya al-Aloul from Gaza City, who returned to the Gaza Strip after a trip to Egypt, her expectations are tamer. 

The 39-year-old young woman told The New Arab that "my seven-member family and I travelled to Egypt as a kind of tourism and entertainment after a long year of suffering, especially to get rid of the negative effects of the recent Israeli war."

Unfortunately, Aloul recalls, after a month of happiness, "we had to face the most difficult days of our lives on our return trip to the Gaza Strip, where many checkpoints were deployed by the Egyptian army, who were deliberately humiliating us."

"In ordinary conditions, we need about eight hours at most on our way back from Cairo to Gaza (...), but we stayed for about 48 hours on the way back, in an atmosphere of fear and tension due to the complex Egyptian procedures," Aloul said.