In Gaza, the return of some civilians through the Rafah border crossing has reopened a route home that many had been waiting to take since before the long closure. But for three women who told The Associated Press they were among the first to enter Gaza on the reopening’s initial day, the moment of crossing did not lead to relief. They described a screening process that included being bound, blindfolded and interrogated for hours at an Israeli-controlled facility, along with what they said were threats and humiliating treatment.
The women said they traveled from Egypt into Gaza on Monday along a route managed by border authorities, then reached the area under Israeli military control where returnees were required to undergo screening. In their accounts, members of an Israeli-backed Palestinian armed group searched their bags and bodies, and Israeli officers then called returnees one by one into a room for questioning. Rotana al-Regeb said her mother, Huda Abu Abed, was called first and was found kneeling on the floor while blindfolded and with her hands handcuffed behind her back, before al-Regeb said she experienced the same treatment. Al-Regeb said the interrogation took place in what she called an “interrogation room — or, a humiliation room,” where she described questioning about Hamas and other matters in Gaza, including matters she said she had no knowledge of.
Al-Regeb said the interrogators also pressured her to act as an informant for the Israeli military. She told AP that the soldiers threatened they would detain her and that she would not return to her children. Al-Regeb said there was no beating, but she described “insults, threats, and psychological pressure,” and said she and her mother were held for several hours before release. Abu Abed, al-Regeb’s mother, confirmed the account to AP. A third woman, Sabah al-Qara, a 57-year-old from Khan Younis who left Gaza for medical treatment in Egypt in December 2023, told AP she was also handcuffed and blindfolded and interrogated during the same screening process.
Al-Qara said the questioning covered events in Gaza, despite the fact that she said she had been outside the territory during that period. She told AP, “They interrogated us and asked us about everything that happened in Gaza,” and added, “We were outside Gaza and knew nothing …. The Israelis humiliated us.” AP also reported that after the women’s accounts were published, Israeli forces responded to questions by stating they knew of no incidents fitting the allegations. The Israeli military said, “No incidents of inappropriate conduct, mistreatment, apprehensions, or confiscation of property by the Israeli security establishment are known.” The Shin Bet intelligence agency and COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza, did not immediately respond to AP questions.
The accounts were tied to the mechanics of Rafah’s reopening, which provides limited opportunities for travel between Egypt and Gaza after the crossing had been closed for most of the Israel-Hamas war. Under the reopening arrangements, AP reported that a European Union mission and Palestinian officials run the border crossing itself, while Israel approves the names of those entering before the crossing takes place. Israel then runs its own screening facility some distance away, and the military said authorities there cross-check identities of returnees with Defense Ministry lists and screen luggage. The women’s reports described additional constraints as part of the process, including Israel’s ban on returnees bringing liquids such as drinking water and limits on what each person could carry.
AP reported that Israeli authorities also banned certain categories of items and set rules for devices. According to instructions posted on the Palestinian side of the crossing and shared with AP, each passenger was allowed to carry one mobile phone and 2,000 shekels, roughly equivalent to $650, if they submitted a declaration 24 hours ahead of travel. Other electric and digital devices and cigarettes were not allowed under the posted instructions. The women also described how the screening and travel day unfolded slowly and unpredictably, with far fewer people entering than expected and confusion over rules for luggage and entry.
Al-Regeb said 42 patients and their relatives were brought to the Egyptian side of Rafah starting at 6 a.m. on Monday, completed paperwork around 10 a.m., and then waited until about 6 p.m. for the gate to open for their buses. She said that in the end, only one bus with the 12 people allowed through reached Gaza. On the Gazan side, she and al-Qara said the European team searched their luggage, including bags filled with gifts for relatives, and confiscated much of it. Al-Regeb said they took mobile phones and food, along with kids’ games and electronic games, adding, “We were only allowed to take the clothes on our backs and one bag per person.”
As the group finally reached Gazan facilities, AP reported that U.N. buses took them to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where the women arrived early Tuesday, after being released from the Israeli screening facility. In comments to AP after reuniting with family, al-Regeb said, “Thank God that I have returned and found my loved ones,” and she added, “I am happy that I am in my nation, with my family and with my children.” Rights groups and Palestinian officials have previously accused Israel of mistreating Palestinians passing through checkpoints in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and of attempting to gather information and recruit informants, while Israel has said such checkpoints are for security.
The allegations also landed during a sensitive period for those trying to return, as more than 110,000 Palestinians left Gaza in the first months of the war before Rafah was shut and thousands of patients were evacuated abroad for treatment. AP reported that many are expected to seek to return, and that as of the reopening’s start, some 30,000 Palestinians had registered with the Palestinian Embassy in Egypt to go back to Gaza, according to an embassy official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Even with demand, the crossing offers only limited throughput, and Israeli officials have said it would allow around 50 Palestinians a day back into Gaza.
On Tuesday, Hamas denounced the reports, calling them “fascist behavior and organized terrorism” and saying it was calling on mediators to take immediate action to stop the practices and ensure travelers’ safety and freedom during transit. Palestinian officials and rights groups said the initial reports of abuse during the reopening could discourage others from attempting the crossing in the days ahead, undermining confidence in what AP described as a fragile process.