BADRASHIN, Egypt: Stranded in Egypt for the past two years, Raed Belal has had to watch helplessly as his wife and children in the Gaza Strip endured bombardment, displacement and hunger. Now he finally has hope he might return to them.
With Israel preparing to reopen the vital Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, Belal, 51, has packed his suitcases, bought gifts for his children, and is ready to go as soon as he is allowed.
“It’s the moment I have been waiting for,” he said, speaking at the rented apartment where he has been living in the Egyptian village of Badrashin. “The moment when I reunite with my children, when I return to my home and homeland, even if everything is destroyed.”
Belal, who left Gaza to get treated for back pain three months before the war broke out, is one of tens of thousands of Palestinians eager to return to the territory, despite the vast destruction wreaked by Israel’s military campaign against Hamas. The Rafah border crossing is expected to reopen within days, a process jump-started by Israel’s recovery on Monday of the last hostage’s remains in Gaza, where a ceasefire with Hamas has held for four months.
Gaza has been closed to entry for Palestinians since Israel launched its retaliatory campaign against Hamas for its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. In the first months of the war, some 110,000 Palestinians were able to leave Gaza. The Rafah crossing was completely closed in May 2024 when Israeli troops took it over.
