The Border 'Reopening' That Wasn't
THE CLAIM: ABC News reports on the 'reopening' of the Rafah crossing after a "rocky first day," implying a return to some semblance of functional passage for Palestinians. The narrative suggests a hiccup, not a systemic blockage, with people "lining up" as if waiting for a routine bus. THE EVIDENCE: Controlled 'Access': For decades, the Rafah crossing, the only passage not controlled by
Netanyahu's government, has been a chokehold administered by Egypt with varying degrees of international pressure. Even before the current situation, Egyptian authorities maintained strict limitations on who could pass and under what conditions. As Human Rights Watch documented in 2011, long periods of closure and restricted categories of travelers were the norm, not the exception. The Cost of
Movement: 'Lining up' at Rafah is euphemism for a system where exit permits are often tied to exorbitant 'coordination fees' to Egyptian and increasingly, other intermediary entities. Personal accounts and investigations by organizations like Euro-Med Monitor (2024) frequently cite fees ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per person, transforming humanitarian passage into a luxury only the desperate
and wealthy can afford. This isn't a border; it's a toll booth on a prison wall. The Numbers Game: While reports focus on a 'reopening,' they rarely quantify the scale of need versus actual processed traffic. With over 1.7 million internally displaced persons (OCHA, January 2026) within Gaza, a few hundred or even a few thousand crossings in a week barely registers as a trickle, let alone