Egypt opened its border with Gaza on Wednesday, providing rare passage for thousands stuck in the coastal enclave who have lived under blockade for more than a decade.
Gaza's health system close to collapse as electricity crisis threatens total blackout
Khalil Qeshta, 45, said medical treatment in Gaza had not helped his son, who has been suffering for months from a debilitating stomach condition causing him to vomit blood.
“I’ll go to Egypt at my own expense,” Qeshta said. “My son is five-years-old and he’s been sick for more than two years. We tried all the ways and means in Gaza, but there is no treatment. This is the third time I have tried to travel. I hope to be one of the lucky ones today.”
One student said he had been accepted to study engineering in Turkey but missed the course start date in September. He hopes to make it for the second term, which has already started.
The Rafah crossing point will be open for four days on a humanitarian basis. Egypt has kept it largely sealed since 2013. Last year, Egypt only allowed passage on 36 days, according to the United Nations.
Some 30,000 Gazans including medical patients, students and businesspeople are on a waiting list to travel through Rafah. But not all are guaranteed.
Since 2006 when Hamas won parliamentary elections in Gaza, the Strip has been under an Israeli all-out blockade, which has led to constant deterioration of economic and humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
Israel has launched two wars on Gaza since Hamas took office in 2007.
The Tel Aviv regime maintains a crippling siege on the coastal sliver ever since, leaving many in desperate need of medicine and other humanitarian stuff.
