Y ARUB IKHDEH and his friends had been waiting half their lives to get on a bus. The six young men had never left Gaza, which has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007. They grew up in a territory where half the population is jobless and at least 70% rely on aid to survive. “We’re all recent graduates in business and IT ,” says Mr Ikhdeh. “And we’re all unemployed.”

Early on a recent morning the friends sat in a sun-baked car park in Rafah, on the border with Egypt. Each had crammed his life into a single suitcase. They would soon board a bus for Cairo, then a flight to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates ( UAE ). None had a job waiting in the UAE . Their tourist visas would be valid for only a month. But the mere prospect of work was enough to make them leave home.

Gazans wanting to leave the territory have two main exits. Only a few may use the crossing at Erez, on the border with Israel. The rest are limited to Rafah. Poor relations between Egypt and Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza, meant that it was largely sealed for years. Egypt opened the crossing for just 36 days in 2017. But since last spring, when thousands of Gazans started to protest at the border with Israel to demand the removal of the blockade, Egypt has loosened its restrictions. Last year the Rafah crossing was open for 198 days.