Palestinian women, among the few people let back into Gaza after Israel's delayed reopening of the Rafah border crossing, have described being blindfolded, handcuffed, and interrogated by Israeli forces as they tried to get home.
Their journey from Egypt on Monday through the frontier post and across the Yellow Line involved lengthy delays and the confiscation of gifts, including toys, one of the women said.
"It was a journey of horror, humiliation, and oppression," said 56-year-old Huda Abu Abed by phone from the tent her family is living in at Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Her account was supported by that of another woman Reuters interviewed, and by comments from a third woman interviewed on Arab television.
In response to a Reuters request for comment, the IDF denied its forces had acted inappropriately or mistreated Palestinians crossing into Gaza, without addressing the specific allegations made by the two women interviewed.
Palestinians returning to Gaza allege harsh questioning, mistreatment from IDF
About 50 Palestinians had been expected to enter Gaza on Monday, but by nightfall, only three women and nine children had been let through, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said, with another 38 stuck waiting to clear security.
Of these 50 people waiting to leave Gaza, mostly for medical treatment, only five patients with seven relatives escorting them managed to cross into Egypt on Monday.
Abu Abed said the returnees, who were restricted to a single suitcase each, first encountered problems at the crossing where European border monitors confiscated toys they were taking home as gifts, she said.
She spent a year in Egypt for heart treatment, but returned before it was finished because she missed her family. An adult daughter had also traveled to Egypt for medical treatment. An adult son was killed in December 2024, and she was not able to say goodbye to him, she said. Two other children are in Gaza.
Once through the crossing and on the Gaza side of the border, the 12 returnees boarded a bus for their journey through the Israeli-controlled zone and across the Yellow Line.
A second woman, Sabah al-Raqeb, 41, said the bus, escorted by two four-wheel-drive vehicles, was stopped at a checkpoint manned by the Abu Shabab militia.
The women's family names were read out over a loudspeaker, and each was led by two men and a woman from Abu Shabab militia to a security point where Israeli forces were waiting. They were then blindfolded and handcuffed, she and Abu Abed said.
They were asked about their knowledge of Hamas, about the October 7 massacre, and other issues relating to militancy, the two women said. The gunmen also said they could remain in the Israeli-held zone, Raqeb said.
"The officer asked me why I came back to Gaza. He said it was destroyed. I told him I came back for my children and family," said Raqeb, who has returned to her seven children living in a tent after leaving Gaza two years ago for what she had expected to be a short trip for medical treatment.
Abu Abed said the questioning lasted more than two hours.
In a statement denying any wrongdoing, the IDF said there were no known incidents of inappropriate conduct, mistreatment, apprehensions, or confiscation of property by the Israeli security establishment.
It said there was an "identification and screening process at the 'Regavim' checkpoint, which is managed by the security establishment in the territory under IDF control."
The IDF further noted that the process followed screening by European personnel as part of a mechanism agreed upon by all parties.
Some 20,000 Gazans are hoping to leave for treatment abroad. Despite the slow reopening, many of them said the step brought relief.
On Tuesday, 50 Palestinians were expected to cross into Gaza from Egypt, according to an Egyptian source.