Akram abu Elouf's leg was blown apart by an Israeli bullet fired from a watchtower half a mile away as he led his two children upstairs to their home. Doctors patched together his thigh bone with nine metal pins; he needs further extensive surgery in Egypt if he is to walk again.
But he was told that he could not cross the checkpoint from Rafah in the Gaza Strip to Egypt because of the metal in his body.
So, two weeks ago, he had the pins removed.
For the vast majority of Gazans, the checkpoint at Rafah is the only exit to the outside world. Some need to leave for medical treatment, education and jobs; some are returning to their lives elsewhere after visiting family in Gaza.
Thousands crowd around the border for days, waiting for an opportunity to leave. Men between the ages of 16 and 35 and all people with metal inside their bodies are denied permission to cross.
Israel routinely bans the movement of young men on the grounds that they are the most likely group to be involved in militant activity, although only a small percentage of Palestinians are involved in violence. The ban on people with metal parts dates from a suicide bombing in January. Rim Saleh el Riashi approached the security gates at Gaza's Erez crossing claiming that it was a metal plate in her leg that was setting off the metal detector. When they allowed her to pass she blew herself up, killing four people.
The Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights recently issued a report detailing the bureaucratic maze people must go through to be allowed permission to leave. Even after securing permission, the report says, many Palestinians are refused passage for arbitrary and nonsensical reasons.
It particularly criticizes Israel for the ban on men and people with metal in their bodies leaving Gaza.
Shabtai Gold, a spokesman for the group, said: "It is collective punishment to prevent all men aged 16-35 and people with metal implants from leaving. It is illegal and we are completely against it.
"If Israel requires prior coordination to allow people passage, that's fine. But it should not delay people getting health care," he said.
Abu Elouf, 34, said he was shot on February 9 with a high-calibre bullet fired from a watchtower. His home and those of his brothers in the same block are splattered with bullet holes.
"There was no reason for it. We live in this border area and there is shooting day and night. They know that we are a peaceful family but I don't think that matters," he said.
After he spent 70 days in a hospital his doctors tried to arrange for treatment abroad, since Gaza has only a primitive health service.
None of the thousands of people milling around in the sun paid any attention to the sound of shooting in the distance or the dust clouds which signalled the movement of tanks around Rafah.
Mwafa Alfarra, 32, said his American wife had given birth to their first child three months ago but that he had not been able to leave.
"The Israelis want to make sure that anyone who leaves has such a hard time, they will think twice about coming back to Gaza," said Mohammad Sharafi, the civilian head of the border crossing.
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