How much do Palestinians pay to escape Gaza?

Before 7 October, Palestinians who wanted to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing could face an uncertain wait via a formal request, or they could pay a middleman to speed up the process and get them into Egypt. In January 2022, a rights group put the cost at around $700 per person. Today a crossing costs at least $5,000 for an adult and $2,500 for a child – and one company seems to have a monopoly. The Sunday Times reports that Hala Consulting and Tourism Services, a private company owned by Ibrahim al-Arjani, could have made $88 million since early March by evacuating more than 20,000 people. The newspaper approached the company for comment. Demand is reportedly so high that people are queuing from 3am for the company’s head office in Cairo to open.