in Rafah, these Palestinian refugees hesitate to flee to Egypt before an Israeli offensive

The town of Rafah, in the far south of the Gaza Strip, is the last refuge for some 1.4 million Palestinians according to the United Nations. These refugees wonder where they will go in the event of an offensive by the Israeli army.

An ultimatum until the start of Ramadan. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government threatens a military offensive in Rafah if the hostages held by Hamas are not released before the start of Ramadan. This leaves three weeks to reach an agreement. The international community is worried about a possible ground offensive in this city backed by the closed border with Egypt, which has become a gigantic encampment housing 1.4 million people, according to the UN, where drinking water and food missing.

Since Rafah, where she took refuge with her sister, Asma wonders if she should hit the road again and go back to Khan Younès, further north: her apartment there may have been destroyed. So, should we go to Egypt if the border opens? A camp is being built a few hundred meters from the border, on the Egyptian side. “People who live in tents, in the streets, who have lost their homes, for me have the right to go to Egypt because they have the right to another lifesays Asma. I don’t want to go that way. I want to go to Egypt on a regular basis, not as a refugee in a camp under the authority of the Egyptian army which is a bit harsh with the Gazans.”

“My 9-year-old daughter has experienced four wars!”

Others, describes Nabil Diab, an independent Palestinian journalist, himself a refugee in Rafah, are heading back towards the north of the Gaza Strip, towards Deir el-Balah and Khan Younes. But for him and his children, he only sees one solution: Egypt. “I have to get out, I have a 9 year old little girl who has been through four wars! Where is her childhood? I lost my house, I lost my job, I have everything lost there”deplores the Palestinian journalist.

“To leave, through the Egyptian borders, you have to pay 5,000 euros per person. There are four of us. I have to pay 20,000 euros. I have nothing on me. What am I going to do?

Nabil Diab, independent Palestinian journalist

at franceinfo

And Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi opposed this weekend “any forced displacement” Palestinians to his country.