When Safaa Nidal joined dozens of women gathered outside Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza , she held a handwritten sign that read: "We want to live with our families."
Unlike others at the protest, Safaa barely raised her voice, instead staring at her phone for a message from her husband in Egypt, perhaps news of the Rafah crossing reopening or her name on a travel list after months of failed attempts to leave Gaza.
Israel's war destroyed homes and livelihoods, and froze time itself for the 30-year-old.
"We spent years trying to have a child […] Doctors said we needed treatment outside Gaza , and my husband travelled to Egypt during the war so we could continue the procedures there. We thought I would follow him within weeks," she told The New Arab .
Instead, the Israeli army stormed and seized control of the Rafah crossing in May 2024, closing it almost completely and trapping her inside Gaza while her husband remained stranded abroad.
Nearly three years into Israel's genocidal war on Gaza , Safaa says their future feels suspended between closed borders and endless uncertainty.
"Everything stopped: treatment, family life, our plans, even hope sometimes. Every day, my husband searches for a way to get me out, but nothing changes," she said.
Safaa was one of dozens of women who protested in central Gaza on Tuesday, demanding the reopening of crossings and an end to prolonged family separation caused by the war and severe travel restrictions.
Many of the women have husbands living in Egypt, Turkey, Germany, or elsewhere in Europe.
Some men left Gaza seeking medical treatment, work opportunities, or university study shortly after the war began. Others had travelled temporarily before becoming stranded outside as crossings closed. Paused, indefinitely As Maha al-Attar's husband has been stranded in Turkey for nearly two years, the war has transformed marriage into "short phone calls interrupted by weak internet and fear".
"My daughter barely recognises her father now. Sometimes he calls on video, and she just stares at the screen without speaking. She doesn't know how to talk to him anymore," she told TNA .
"The crisis goes beyond travel bans. Women here have lost breadwinners, needed medical care, or seek to reunite with children abroad. Our suffering receives little attention as Gaza faces multiple disasters," she said. "My youngest son asks every day when he'll see his father […] I no longer know what to tell him."
She described living in a constant state of waiting, where life seems indefinitely paused.
"When the crossing closes, it feels as though our lives close with it," she added.
The plight of Palestinians stranded inside Gaza has become one of the territory's most painful yet underreported humanitarian crises.
While international attention has largely focused on bombardment, hunger, and mass displacement, thousands of families remain divided across borders with little prospect of reunion.
According to official Palestinian figures, around 2,800 people have crossed through Rafah since the crossing partially reopened on 2 February this year.
Before Israel's war on Gaza, approximately 2,000 Palestinians travelled through the crossing daily in and out of the coastal enclave.
Local officials in Gaza said Israeli authorities currently permit only limited numbers of Palestinians to leave Gaza, often fewer than 100 people daily.
Priority is largely given to medical patients and some companions, while thousands remain stuck on waiting lists without clear travel dates.
Human rights organisations in Gaza say women trapped inside the enclave face especially harsh conditions due to economic collapse, repeated displacement, and the breakdown of social support systems.
Many have lost homes, income, or relatives during the war and now depend on shrinking humanitarian aid at a time when relief agencies themselves face severe funding shortages.
Hanaa Jabr, a community activist who helped organise the protest, told TNA that the demonstration followed growing frustration among women who feel invisible amid Gaza's wider catastrophe.
"Some participants have been separated from their husbands for years now, while others are living alone with children in tents or overcrowded shelters while suffering psychological trauma and health problems," she said.
She added that several women missed critical fertility or medical treatment because they were unable to travel.
"This is not only about movement; it is about the basic right to family life, dignity, and emotional stability," she explained.