Dozens of people are waiting for the opening of the Rafah crossing to flee Gaza: "We have no water in the sinks or bathrooms"

“I came to visit Gaza, my (American) passport expired and then the US Embassy did nothing to help us,” laments Eilen al Tauil, a Palestinian-American, who has tried to leave through the Rafah crossing on several occasions. dodging Israeli bombings. “It's being very hard, we don't have water in the sinks or bathrooms,” adds an American woman from Salt Lake City (Utah, USA), also waiting to flee the Strip.

Al Tauil remains waiting for the border with Egypt to open after the announcement of a humanitarian corridor that has never been launched. It's not the only one. Without water, electricity or internet, a crowd of desperate Palestinians gathered this Monday at the Rafah crossing, which connects the Gaza Strip with Egypt, in the hope that humanitarian aid would arrive that has not yet arrived, in the midst of the rumors that the pass was going to open.

However, the hours passed and the crossing remained closed for the Palestinians, who saw a ray of hope in the early news that appeared in the media indicating that the crossing was going to be open between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. local time ( 06:00 and 12:00 GMT time). Specifically, they were waiting for eight aid trucks to enter the Strip with humanitarian assistance and for Palestinians with foreign passports, especially American ones, to be allowed to leave the enclave, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, towards Egypt.

All this amid information indicating that there was an agreement between Egypt, the US and Israel for a ceasefire in the Strip, which was later denied by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Neither ceasefire nor humanitarian aid in exchange for the departure of those with foreign passports. This is how categorical Netanyahu's office was when it came to denying this information, despite the fact that on Sunday the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced in Cairo an agreement with the involvement of the UN, Egypt and other actors to open Rafah's move to assistance.

However, if this aid crossed the border crossing, it would be difficult to access the Gazans, since, as EFE was able to verify this Monday, the two main streets of Rafah through which the 8 trucks would have to pass from the crossing are completely bombed. Even so, these difficulties did not deter many Palestinians who approached the crossing this Monday, not even the Israeli bombings, such as the one that occurred in the vicinity of the border post.

Not far from Al Tauil, Ayam, a 17-year-old girl with a British passport, was also waiting for the opening of the crossing. “We are trying to leave, we came here two days ago, but it was not open and we returned home. Today we returned early in the day,” he tells EFE, while pointing out that due to the lack of internet connection, every time they hear a bomb they don't know where it comes from.

Ayam and her family members aspire to leave for Egypt if the passage opens at some point, because, as the teenager explained, the situation in the Strip is “terrible.”

“Not a liter of drinking water”

Hamas stated this Monday that for the tenth consecutive day Israel has not pumped “not even a liter of drinking water” to the enclave, despite the fact that the Israeli authorities announced this Sunday that it had resumed partial supplies.

Hamas Ministry of Interior and National Security spokesman Iyad Al Bozum stressed in a statement that the cutting off of drinking water “is forcing Gazans to drink contaminated water.” He predicted that this will lead to a health crisis that will threaten the lives of citizens living in the Strip.

Currently getting a bottle of water in Rafah is impossible, as EFE was able to verify by visiting hundreds of small stores in search of liquid suitable for consumption.

A truck with tap water has arrived in Rafah and Khan Yunis and has been distributed among Gazans, although in a limited way, only 20 liters per family, so many are resorting to boiling it to kill possible bacteria.

Tension has increased enormously since Hamas launched, on October 7, an attack by land, sea and air from Gaza that caused at least 1,400 deaths, the vast majority civilians, and has unleashed a harsh counterattack by Israel, which has carried out ten days bombing the Gaza Strip, leaving at least 2,808 Palestinians dead and 10,850 injured.