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Palestinians Paying Thousands in Bribes to Leave Gaza
(Al-Jazeera) Sanaa Kamal and Hunter Stuart - Egyptian officers are asking for bribes of up to $10,000 from Palestinians in Gaza desperate to cross into Egypt, according to Gaza brokers who coordinate the bribe payments. Typically, an adult in Gaza must pay a bribe of $3,000 to cross the border. The brokers said they took a 20% cut, sending 80% to the Egyptian officer who coordinated it. Sometimes, Egyptian officers put the names of Palestinians on a blacklist, declaring them to be a "security threat," but a $10,000 payment can have a name removed. A former high-ranking Hamas official who worked for the Hamas Crossings Authority at Rafah said that over the course of only two days last year, nearly half a million dollars in bribes were paid by 150 Palestinians in order to travel to Egypt.