On the fifth day of the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, Ahmed Fathi and his family received a shocking warning: Israeli gave them just hours to evacuate their neighbourhood before it was bombed.
They were forced to flee the Al-Rimal district, in the centre of Gaza City, seeking safety with relatives in the Al-Zaytoun district to the southeast of the city.
Their experience of the brutal war in Gaza is typical of the way in which it has affected millions of people in the Strip, even in areas usually comparatively untouched by conflict in one of the most densely populated areas in the world. And they are among the lucky ones. As dual nations, there was to be a route out.
Fathi, is 37 and an Omani citizen. He had been visiting his extended family with his wife and children after years of separation and never anticipated that his children would have to endure the intense Israeli bombardment. Nor did he expect that his family's long-standing home, in the area they had lived in for over 50 years, would face complete destruction.
He told Al Majalla: "My family used to believe that their area was the safest place even during times of war and crisis, given its proximity to the western maritime borders of the Strip, far from the eastern borders with the Israeli occupation."
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The shock of war
Fathi had left his family's belongings behind, assuming he would be able to return once the bombing stopped. His wife only took their passports and identification papers as they left in haste.
But after a night of intense and violent bombardment, Fathi returned to find the home and its contents reduced to a pile of rubble, scattered among the debris of the neighbourhood.
He said: "I could hardly recognize the location of my family's home, and I was unable to retrieve our bags and clothes buried under the rubble. However, I consoled myself with the thought that at least we had our passports."
At that moment, Fathi made the decision to head to the Rafah land crossing – the southernmost entry and exit point to the Gaza Strip via Egypt – and the only land corridor connecting Gaza’s population of over 2.3mn people with the outside world.
It was the start of a protracted process involving waiting for the crossing to reopen and obtaining the approval needed dual nationals and foreigners to depart for their respective countries. This followed numerous appeals from various Arab and foreign embassies demanding that their citizens be allowed to leave Gaza.
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Life among the displaced
During the wait, Fathi and his family found refuge in a camp in Rafah for forcibly displaced people from across the Strip. It housed dual nationals waiting to get out alongside Gazans with solely Palestinian citizenship.
Several days after he and his family arrived, in mid-October, Fathi received a call from the Omani embassy instructing him to proceed to the Rafah crossing for departure. The following day, he and his family set out from the camp, hoping that it would be the start of their journey out of Gaza.
They reached the crossing, where there is a cafeteria that serves as a waiting room. But it was overflowing with others keen to escape. With no seats available, Fathi and his family resorted to lying on the floor, alongside a multitude of individuals from various nationalities who had received similar instructions from their respective embassies.
"Egypt's primary objective was to facilitate the passage of relief trucks into Gaza, which were arriving at Al-Arish Airport in Sinai. However, the Israeli occupation consistently obstructed their entry. There was no official Egyptian decision to open the crossing for the entry of individuals.
“Israel had even conducted multiple airstrikes on the internal road leading to the crossing, preventing the trucks from reaching their destination. “Consequently, the crossing remained closed to individuals, including those with dual nationality and foreign nationals."
There are no precise statistics on the number of dual nationals and foreigners in the Gaza Strip, but Abu Mohsen puts it is in the thousands. He notes that “each embassy is aware of the number of its citizens trapped in Palestine, but we lack specific data about their exact figures or those who urgently wish to leave due to the war in Gaza.”
Daily struggle under scorching sun
Fathi and his family are emblematic of a wider plight.
They experienced a dramatic shift from a leisurely visit with family to a daily struggle to get out. Every morning, they would prepare, gather their documents, and then take a taxi that Fathi had prearranged.
But due to the shortage of fuel and its skyrocketing prices – caused by Israel’s decision, on the third day of the war, to blockade the Strip – the price of the journey to the crossing soared.
On arrival at Rafah’s outer gate on the Palestinian side, they would patiently wait under the scorching sun in hopes of being allowed to cross. By evening, their hopes faded with the daylight, prompting their return either to the camps or the homes of relatives and friends in Gaza’s south.
This routine lasted for over 10 days. By 31 October, the Gaza Crossings and Borders Authority received the initial lists for travel from that evening. It included approximately 500 names scheduled to leave the following day.
Bu then, the Israeli army severed internet connections in the Gaza, causing confusion among travelers. Some had lost hope in the preceding days and no longer ventured to the crossing, choosing instead to await elsewhere for an announcement about the crossing's reopening.
Others were unable to secure transportation to the crossing, having exhausted their fuel supply, with the remainder allocated for the operation of hospitals, ambulances, and civil defence.
Words of hope
Fathi's family were among those who were left stranded in the camp, in despair. But on 1 November, he heard in the camp that the Rafah crossing had reopened for foreigners and dual nationals.
Determined to seize this opportunity, he arranged for expensive transport there, only to find his family’s names were not on the lists of people approved to leave.
After 1 November, Israel and the US eased conditions for movement. Egypt began sending lists of names to the Gaza Crossings and Borders Authority every evening, of between 500 and 700 foreign nationals permitted to pass through. At the same time, Egypt allowed wounded and injured people through the crossing for medical treatment abroad.
Abu Mohsen explained: "Egypt is responsible for sending the daily travel lists to coordinate departures. We then disseminate this information to those registered and wishing to travel through their respective embassies, and subsequently, we facilitate their exit to the Egyptian side."
But the flow of people through Rafah was not entirely smooth. During the past three weeks, it was halted for three days by the Palestinian authorities. Their objective was to exert pressure on all parties and countries, compelling them to permit the evacuation of the wounded and injured from hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip.
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The Israeli army had previously blocked such departure. The authorities also sought to coordinate the movement of these individuals to the southern Gaza Strip and then onward to the Rafah crossing into Egypt.
Israeli indifference, then a breakthrough
In the face of sustained Israeli indifference towards the plight of the wounded and seriously ill, Palestinian authorities allowed the departure of foreigners and dual nationals once again, following the Egyptian lists they received.
Fathi and his family found themselves included in the lists for 16 November.
It was to be the day they got out of Gaza. But they left behind their extended family – including Fathi's mother – his siblings, and their children.
He said: "Our home is gone, their livelihoods are gone... I hope the bombing ceases soon, and the war ends, allowing them to seek safety and a better life."
According to the Gaza Crossings and Borders Authority, as of 19 November, over 5,500 people, including foreigners, Egyptians, and dual nationals, have left the region.
Around 120 others were returned by authorities on the Egyptian side because their names were not on the lists, while other family members were. Officials on the Palestinian side have warned travellers that any adult holding a passport not on the lists will be turned away, even if other family members get out.
