Khan Younis, Gaza Strip – When Rotana al-Raqab learned that her name and her mother’s were included on the first list of Palestinians allowed to return to Gaza through the Rafah crossing, she felt, briefly, that the long months she had spent stranded in Egypt were finally coming to an end.But what she initially believed would be a path back to her five children instead turned into a gruelling ordeal of hours of waiting, body searches, interrogations, and humiliating treatment at the hands of Israeli forces.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listRotana, 31, left Gaza last March with her mother, Huda Abu Abed, 56, seeking urgent medical treatment after being told she needed a major heart operation.They left behind Rotana’s six children with family members, who at the time were displaced in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis.Throughout the separation, Rotana says the fear of what was happening at home – as Israel continued its genocidal war on Gaza – never left her.“All that time, I was on edge, waiting for the crossing to open so that I could return to my children,” she told Al Jazeera.“My husband was injured in an Israeli strike, and I was nearly going mad with fear and worry. I spoke with them every day despite how hard calls and internet access were.”From Egypt to Rafah Rotana and Huda found out that they would be allowed to return to Gaza the day before the crossing partially opened on Monday.They were contacted by the Palestinian emb …
