Gaza refugees stuck in limbo in Egypt

Every time a plane flies overhead, Mohanad al-Sindawy shudders. It takes him a moment to remember he isn’t in Gaza anymore and that no one is bombing the Egyptian capital.

“But the sound terrifies us every time, even passing cars remind us of missiles,” the 23-year-old Palestinian told AFP in Cairo.

The Israeli offensive raging since October 7 has sent tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Gaza to neighbouring Egypt where they are granted temporary stays.

Although Egypt insists it won’t do Israel’s bidding by allowing permanent refugee camps on its territory, it has allowed in medical evacuees, dual passport holders and others who somehow managed to escape.

Sindawy, who worked in digital marketing back in Gaza, could find work online but said he “can’t concentrate” on anything except “following the news and making sure our families are safe”.

As the bloodiest ever Gaza offensive grinds on just a five-hour-drive away, he said, “we can’t even think about what comes next for us until there’s a ceasefire”.

Like him, many Palestinians are traumatised, disoriented in exile and struggling to find help.

“We lost everything,” said another recent arrival, Raghda Shbeir, 22. “We’ve contacted organisations for help, but nothing has worked. Some never responded, some told us to wait our turn.”

Shbeir’s family is lucky to have relatives in Cairo but faces another huge obstacle, she said — “our legal status in Egypt: our residence permit is only valid for 45 days.”

In the longer term, she said, “staying in Egypt is not an option”.

Amid an Israeli siege of the coastal territory of 2.4 million people, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was a lifeline until it was shut last month, letting aid trucks in and allowing the lucky few to escape.