As Gaza unravels, Palestinians flee

Another Gazan, Abdel Salem Halil, tried a similar route, which included the use of a forged Italian residency permit. But he was caught by an Al Italia official at the check-in desk in Cairo, who could tell that the identification card was fake. His choice: Face arrest or return home. He came back to Gaza reluctantly, but is still seeking to leave. He's trying to get a visa to any European country he can and to bring his whole family with him – or at least his oldest son, whom he fears will be recruited for a military faction soon.

"I'm fed up," says Mr. Halil, who worked as a dressmaker but closed his shop recently for lack of business: People have little disposable income to spend on clothes.

"I'm afraid for my children. My son is almost 19, and if I wait any longer, he will join one of the military groups," he says. "It's natural. If you are not backed by any faction, you are lost, and that's why we're planning to leave. I can't see any horizon for us here."

Mohammed Abu Jamal, who runs a travel agency in Gaza City, says that, on the average day in recent weeks, 200 people come in asking for his help in getting out. "Some people are so desperate," he says, "that they're willing to pay $3,000 or $4,000 for a ticket to somewhere."

Even for those with visas, the route out has huge hurdles. Rafah, the only crossing out of Gaza into Egypt, has been closed since Saturday. European monitors who have been on mission there since November 2005, as part of a US-brokered agreement that came on the heels of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, have been ordered to retreat to their headquarters in nearby Ashkelon, inside Israel.

"Due to the situation, the head of mission has declared the suspension of the operation until our security can be guaranteed," says Maria Telleria, spokesperson of European Union border-assistance mission. "We will go back to the border as soon as security will allow."

Some Palestinians are amassed near the border waiting for it to reopen, Ms. Telleria says, but the monitors are unable to estimate the number who are there.

Egypt's policy towards Palestinians seeking to cross over is unclear. Palestinians say that those over 40 years of age can go simply by showing a Palestinian identity card. Those younger than 40 need to show a visa.

An Egyptian official said that, technically speaking, Palestinians can come to Egypt by getting special stamps in their passport at the Egyptian Embassy. But in practice, passage is at the mercy of often-fickle guards.

"If the border guards don't want him to come into the country, then he can't come in, and that happens a lot," says the official, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity. "The border at Rafah is very difficult.

"The guys on the border are very obstinate," he reiterates, "so if they don't like you, you can't come in."

For any person, and certainly for any Palestinian, leaving one's homeland is a difficult and loaded issue.

Many of the people interviewed for this article did not want their full names used out of fear of being viewed as deserters.

But Balousha says that his friends ask him why he hasn't gotten out already. Almost 30 and still single – most Palestinians his age are married with children – it's less complicated for you, they urge. But only slightly, he says.

"My friends say, 'If I were you, I would have gone by now.' But it's not so quick," he says. "Everyone wants to live in his home in peace. There are no words to describe the situation. It's a disaster.

"This is the lowest standard for a human being," he asserts. "You're in a middle of a war, and you cannot hope for anything except to survive."

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