In most parts of the world, a patient’s journey to treatment begins at the hospital door.

In Gaza, it begins at the door of politics, passes through layers of security and often never reaches a doctor at all. The occupation has reduced the Gazan to a dossier, rather than a human life.

What is being presented today as the “opening” of the Rafah crossing cannot in all seriousness be described as a breakthrough for humanitarian effort. Rather, it’s a re-engineering of the siege, repackaged in calmer language and administered with tighter control. Movement is not governed by need or rights, but by lists, quotas and prior security approvals, turning the most basic human necessities into temporary exemptions.

Under the current arrangements, it is now broadly established that departure from Gaza is not open to the public. Exit is largely restricted to around 50 patients per day, each permitted only two companions, and only after navigating complex and highly restrictive security procedures.

In practical terms, the crossing is not opened to society, but to narrowly defined medical cases, treated as isolated administrative files rather than part of a wider humanitarian reality.

At the same time, approximately three times that figure are allowed to leave Gaza daily, also subject to security clearance, while entry into Gaza is capped at far lower levels, often not exceeding fifty people per day.

This imbalance is not a technical oversight. It reflects a deliberate logic of movement management: exit is facilitated more than entry; departure is easier than return. The crossing becomes a mechanism for........

© Middle East Monitor