Cairo says the Rafah crossing, a potentially vital opening for desperately-needed supplies into the Israeli-besieged Palestinian enclave, is not officially closed but was made inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side.
As Israel’s bombardment and siege of Gaza has intensified, the territory’s 2.3 million residents have been left without power, pushing health and water services to the brink of collapse, with fuel for hospital generators running low.
“There is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters, adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful.
“Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries.”
There’s a fair chance they believe if they leave, Israel will never allow them back.
If that’s true, I understand why they want to stay.
With the end goal of taking and settling that land, a mass exodus is exactly what Israel has wanted for quite some time. Palestinians are treated like squatters and are being strong armed out of their homes en masse under the threat of starvation and/or death.
The right to return is like a major demand of the Palestine movements. Of course this is something Israel is never going to willingly allow.
For one an influx of foreign moderate Palestinians bringing foreign money and foreign connections would seriously bolster the power and palatability of a Palestinian state.