Tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing the war in Gaza arrived in Egypt within the last two years, clutching stamped visas, papers that offer shelter but little else. As they try to establish new routines in their new refuge, guarantees of stability feel like a distant hope. “We watched in horror the war, destruction, and devastation that took over Gaza,” Nael Youssef Abzaanin, a 42-year-old Palestinian father of three boys, told Egyptian Streets, safely from his apartment in Cairo. “Nothing was spared, not even the trees or stones.” Abzaanin came to Egypt in late September 2023 with his son, Youssef, for a follow-up on the back surgery Youssef had a year earlier. As Gaza was bombarded and demolished, he thought of his two other sons and wife back in Gaza, yearning to reconnect with them. Meanwhile, his relatives in Egypt arranged an apartment for him and his son. “As the days dragged on, the situation worsened and my worries and fears grew,” he shared. “The sound of bombing never stopped, and my family in Gaza couldn’t enjoy a single peaceful night’s sleep.” To this day, Abzaanin remains in Egypt with…
