How much do Palestinians pay to get out of Gaza?

On a clear night in March, Ahmed sat on a rooftop in Rafah, in southern Gaza. It was the only place he could get a phone signal in the crumbling and crowded city. Two weeks earlier, Ahmed had paid $5,000 to Hala Consulting and Tourism Services, a travel agency in Cairo, to get him onto a register of those allowed to cross into Egypt. New lists are published each day on Telegram and Facebook. Ahmed’s contact had assured him that his name would appear soon. At last, at 10pm, it popped up. Early the next day, he went to the border. Getting across was a confusing process. The Egyptian officials, he said, treated Palestinians “like animals”. But he made it into Egypt and then on to Cairo.