Reports claim Egypt refused to allow citizens stranded in Gaza to return home

Egyptian families stranded in Gaza have appealed to their country’s authorities to facilitate their return to their safe homeland, amid the ongoing Israeli aggression against the besieged Strip since 7 October.

Activists on social media said the Egyptian authorities refused to allow Egyptian citizens from the besieged Gaza Strip to return through the Rafah port, despite Israel’s approval of the exit of Palestinians with dual citizenship.

The users have denounced the Egyptian officials’ failure to address the conditions of the Egyptian community in Gaza in light of the continued Israeli aggression on Gaza.

According to local Egyptian media outlets, the number of the Egyptian community in Gaza is estimated at about 40,000 people.

The social media users

wondered whether requests should be submitted to the US and the United Nations to help Egyptians in Gaza to enter their country, instead of Egypt.

Among those wishing to leave Gaza is Ghada Al-Saqqa, an Egyptian- Palestinian dual citizen who was visiting her relatives in Gaza when the 7 October attack took place.

Ghada and her daughter have been stranded in the Strip since then. She explained that she was staying with her brothers, but the house was destroyed in an Israeli strike, and she ended up in the street, along with her family.

“They attack us. We are not animals. We are residents of Egypt, not residents of Gaza. By what right do they allow foreigners to leave through the Egyptian crossing, but not Egyptians” she said, noting that the rest of her children are in Egypt.

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