Cairo is determined to prevent an exodus of refugees through the Rafah crossing – warning it could be a death knell for the Palestinian dream of statehood.
CAIRO — With more than 1,500 people dead in Gaza and hundreds of thousands displaced by the Israeli military’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip, global attention has focused on the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the only viable way out of the densely populated enclave.But Cairo, wary of political fallout and security risks, is determined to prevent an exodus of refugees to Egypt — warning it could be a death knell for the Palestinian dream of statehood.
Even in times of relative peace, Egypt maintains tight control of the border. Palestinians wishing to exit Gaza must obtain permission from both Palestinian and Egyptian authorities. Wait times are long, and getting access to a speedier route often requires paying a hefty fee to private travel agencies. Northern Sinai, where Egypt has battled Islamist militants for a decade, is heavily militarized.
The mass displacement of Palestinians during the founding of the state of Israel in 1948 — an event Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, “catastrophe” in Arabic — remains a profound source of intergenerational trauma. Someare already refugees, having fled or been forced from their homes in parts of what is now Israel, and never allowed to return.
Egypt is trying to advance a “prudent policy,” al-Orabi, the former foreign minister, said — one oriented around organizing aid deliveries, taking in a smaller numbers of injured Palestinians for medical treatment and helping foreign nationals to leave Gaza.
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