DaysofPal- Palestinian women returning from Egypt to the Gaza Strip say they were subjected to theft, intimidation, and verbal abuse by Israeli occupation forces at the Rafah land crossing.
Testimonies collected from the returning women indicated that the Israeli forces are exploiting the chaos and fear surrounding the crossing to pressure returnees, especially women, into handing over valuables.
According to the women, such behaviors are also practiced by the members of the militias loyal to Israeli occupation who deliberately spread fear among passengers by warning that Israeli forces would seize personal belongings at Israeli checkpoints, pushing some to surrender gold, electronics, and full bags of possessions “voluntarily,” with false promises that their items would be returned later.
The women describe an atmosphere of “threat and terror,” including harsh verbal insults and aggressive treatment, compounding the psychological toll of what were often long and exhausting journeys for medical treatment or displacement in Egypt.
These accounts align with other reports suggesting that Rafah has ceased to be merely a crossing point and has instead become a site of systematic abuse against returnees, including invasive questioning, humiliation and strict restrictions.
Um Musab Nabhan, a Gaza resident returning from Egypt, recounted to Safa how she lost an entire bag of belongings.
She said she had packed gifts for her children and items sent by relatives living in Egypt to their families in Gaza.
At the crossing, a man described as a collaborator with the Israeli occupation told her he needed to keep the bag, claiming Israeli forces were confiscating such items.
“He promised me he would return it after I passed the Israeli inspection point, but that never happened,” she said.
Nabhan explained that fear was the main reason she complied: “What pushed me to hand over my bag was the extreme fear they planted in us, and what they told us about the occupation forces taking everything.”
She added that this man claimed to know what was happening on the Israeli side of the crossing: “He told me that what the ‘Jewish authority’ let through would be exposed later, claiming they know everything.”
“They exaggerated how the Israeli checkpoint would search us and told us things that never happened,” she continued.
Nabhan distinguished between the occupation and those she described as mercenaries operating at Rafah: “The occupation, whatever it does and however it commits crimes, remains an occupation with no religion and no faith. But these mercenaries steal from and abuse their own mothers and sisters without mercy or compassion.”
Another returnee, Hala, known as “Um Muhammad,” also reported being robbed and verbally abused by these groups in southern Gaza.
She said that individuals described as collaborators with the occupation stole two gold rings and an electronic watch she had bought as gifts for her daughters and son after a medical treatment journey that lasted more than two years.
“What made me hand over the rings and the electronic watch was the state of terror and fear drawn for me by one of the men affiliated with ‘Abu Shabab’,” she said, referring to a militia figure.
“He told me, ‘Be careful, the Israelis will take the rings and the electronic watch from you in a little while at the inspection device.’ I got scared and gave them to him, based on a promise he made to return them later, but that didn’t happen.”
Um Muhammad said these men were not only present but also actively intervened in the inspection of passengers’ belongings inside Rafah Crossing.
“When the official security personnel inspected my bag without scattering its contents, one of the militia members intervened and told him, ‘That’s not how inspection is done.’
He then took out everything from the bag and searched it item by item,” she said.
“They treated us in a crude, degrading way,” she added, describing how one of the men shouted at the women: “Whoever raises her phone to film, I’ll smash it and hit it on her head.”
She said they also threatened to kill anyone who spoke to the media about what was happening at the crossing.
These testimonies add to growing criticism of the situation at Rafah, which has long been Gaza’s primary gateway to the outside world.
Rights organizations and local media have previously warned that Rafah has become a place where Palestinians, already facing siege, displacement, and medical crises, are exposed to additional layers of vulnerability, exploitation, and abuse.
The women who spoke to Safa called for urgent intervention to protect travelers, investigate the alleged thefts and threats, and hold accountable those responsible for mistreating Palestinian returnees at the crossing.
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