For weeks, Samer* obsessively visited a Facebook page, searching for his name on a list of 300 Gazans. Those on the list had to report to the Rafah border crossing at 7am sharp the next day, and would then be able to evacuate Gaza by walking through the gate into Egypt.
They would not be travelling as refugees, however, but as paying customers.
On Friday, Egypt sent a high-level delegation to Israel in the hope of reviving a potential ceasefire agreement, and to warn against Israel’s anticipated assault on Rafah, the only city left in Gaza where it is yet to mount a major military operation.
The Egyptian government is anxious to prevent a mass displacement of Gazans onto its territory, fearing that such a
