Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with the besieged Gaza Strip has been a site of hope and despair in the unprecedented aftermath of Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel. For VOA, photojournalist Hamada Elrasam captured the Egyptian side of this crucial passageway on November 29, the last day of the weeklong “humanitarian pause” across the crisis-ravaged Strip. Written in collaboration with Elle Kurancid.
Continuing War Casts Long Shadow Over Egypt-Gaza Border
- By Hamada Elsaram
- Elle Kurancid
![Saeed Badr, an aid truck driver, says, “The main problem is the [Israeli] crossing of Al-Awja: they don’t allow knives, sharp objects, and cooking gas cylinders, so we have to eat canned food.”](https://gdb.voanews.com/01000000-c0a8-0242-8905-08dbf4c6d042_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Saeed Badr, an aid truck driver, says, “The main problem is the [Israeli] crossing of Al-Awja: they don’t allow knives, sharp objects, and cooking gas cylinders, so we have to eat canned food.”
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These gas cylinders belong to aid truck drivers who use them for cooking on-the-road meals but had to leave them behind, chained to this column, before entering the gates of the Rafah crossing, Egypt.
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In recent weeks, Egypt says safe passage over its border with southern Gaza has been granted to 8,691 foreign and dual nationals and 395 critically wounded Palestinians, along with convoys of hostages freed by Hamas.
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Ahmed Yossef and Saeed Al-Helow, two Palestinian medical evacuees from Gaza, receive treatment for a bombing-induced lung injury and deep torso lacerations, respectively, at a hospital in Al-Arish, Egypt.
