Gazan family stranded in Egypt faces uncertain return to devastated home

China

Gazan family stranded in Egypt faces uncertain return to devastated home

2025-10-25 15:50 Last Updated At：19:27

A Gazan family stranded in Egypt for over two years has told their story of survival, separation, and longing as international mediators push to reopen the Rafah border under a new peace deal between Hamas and Israel.

A key part of the deal, which was signed two weeks ago during a summit in Egypt, is for Israel to reopen the Rafah border crossing, which would allow more aid into Gaza and let stranded Palestinians return home.

Mohamed Mahdi's family is living in a small rented apartment in Badr City, east of Cairo. They have been stranded in Egypt for over two years, separated from their family, friends, and properties in Gaza.

"I'm a father of four: three boys in school and a daughter in college. I was a trader who lived well in Gaza and even visited China several times for business. We came to Egypt two years ago to get medical treatment for my wife. We crossed through Rafah, and then the war broke out," he told a China Global Television Network reporter.

"I was injured in a previous air raid before this war. I fell, and the damage was extensive - I couldn't walk. They couldn't treat me in Gaza, so we came to an Egyptian hospital. We never imagined what would happen next," his wife Nisreen Mahdi added.

Mohamed still has photos on his phone of their house and the shops they owned in Gaza, which were reduced to rubble by Israeli strikes.

"In 2021, they destroyed a large building we owned. We started building a new one with my father and brothers. It was bombed again last year. Now, I can't even contact my parents. My mother is sick in Gaza, and I can't help her," he said. Nisreen recalled the moment they nearly lost their lives. The harrowing picture of their children narrowly escaping a rocket that struck their home went viral back then.

"The worst feeling is trying to protect your children and look strong, when you are actually trembling inside," she said.

Palestinian official statistics showed that by mid-2025, there were 7.8 million Palestinians living abroad out of a population of 15 million. Around 100,00 of those got stranded in Egypt after the Gaza conflict broke out in October 2023.

The war left deep psychological scars across a generation, reshaping childhoods with fear, displacement, and uncertainty.

"Because of what we faced, each of us has psychological issues. We try to comfort each other. But inside, we never truly feel safe, even here in a safe country. I remember when we arrived in Egypt, I was shocked that they have clean water, electricity, and food all day. We never had that in Gaza. Even before this war, basic necessities were a luxury," said Mohamed's daughter Nour Mahdi.

Like most stranded Palestinians, Mohamed Mahdi's family had no source of income and had to make ends meet by starting a catering service, selling popular Palestinian dishes and desserts online.

For now though, it's a waiting game, not knowing if they will ever be able to return to their homeland.

UNGA President warns global multilateral system "under attack"

The multilateral system is "under attack" amid global turmoil, President of the 80th UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock warned in her remarks on Wednesday.

In her briefing on the priorities for the resumed 80th Session of the General Assembly, the UNGA president noted that the current multilateral system does not collapse all in a sudden, but "crumbles piece by piece" in divisions, compromises, and lack of political commitment.

The president called all the UN member states to defend the UN Charter and international law and promote cross-regional cooperation.

She also urged to push forward the work of the UNGA on certain critical issues with a strong majority, rather than an absolute consensus among all member states. Such act is not a failure of multilateralism, but "an affirmation of it," she said.

The foundational principles of the institution should not be eroded by appeasement, she said, calling the member states to show courage, leadership, and responsibility at the UN's "critical make-or-break moment."

"The UN needs you. Your support, your leadership, your principle, stand, your cross-regional cooperation, if we are to preserve and modernize this institution, if we are to make it, rather than break it," she said.