Khan Younis, Gaza Strip – When Rotana al-Raqab learned that her name and her mother’s were included on the first list of Palestinians allowed to return to Gaza through the Rafah crossing, she felt, briefly, that the long months she had spent stranded in Egypt were finally coming to an end. The reopening of the crossing is part of the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which the United States said had begun in mid-January, despite the continuation of Israeli attacks on Gaza. In a press statement, the International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemned the strict Israeli restrictions on the operation of the crossing, saying that they had turned “travel and return [to Gaza] into a symbolic procedure that falls short of a genuine and comprehensive opening”.
Author: Maram Humaid
Published at: 2026-02-04 21:51:26
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