JERUSALEM — The only way for almost all people in the Gaza Strip to escape the horrors of the Israel-Hamas war is by leaving through neighboring Egypt.

And that is usually a complicated and expensive ordeal, involving the payment of thousands of dollars to an Egyptian company that can get Palestinians on an approved travel list to cross the border.

Confronting the company’s stiff fees, as well as the widespread hunger in Gaza where there is no end in sight to Israel’s military campaign, many Palestinians have resorted to trying to raise money with desperate appeals on digital platforms like GoFundMe.

Dr. Salim Ghayyda, a pediatrician in northern Scotland, posted one such plea in January after his sister texted from Gaza to say that their father had suffered seizures.

Their father made it to a hospital and survived, but Ghayyda, 52, who left Gaza in 2003, said the episode convinced him he had to evacuate his family at any cost. “I thought I’d go to sleep one night and wake up to the news that my family is gone,” he said. “I felt helpless and hopeless, but I knew I had to do something.”

Over the past eight months, about 100,000 people have left Gaza, said Diab al-Louh, the Palestinian ambassador to Egypt.

Some managed to get out through connections to foreign organizations or governments, but for many Palestinians, exiting Gaza is possible only by way of Hala, a firm that appears to be closely connected to the Egyptian government.

Now the future of that avenue is uncertain, especially after the Israeli military launched an offensive against Hamas in Rafah and took over the crossing there, leading to its closure in May.

No Palestinians have been allowed to pass through it since, and it is unclear when it will reopen.

The New York Times spoke to a dozen people inside and outside Gaza who were either trying to leave the territory or help family members or friends to do so. All but one spoke on the condition of anonymity over fears of retaliation by the Egyptian authorities toward them or their relatives or friends.

Other pathways out of Gaza exist, but many of them require large payments, too.

One route is to pay unofficial middlemen in the enclave or in Egypt, who demand $8,000 to $15,000 a person in exchange for arranging their departure within days, according to four Palestinians who either made the payments or tried to.

Palestinians connected to international organizations and governments, holders of foreign passports or visas, wounded people and some students enrolled in universities outside Gaza have been able to leave without paying large fees, but most of the more than 2 million people in the enclave do not fall into those categories.

Hala charges $5,000 to coordinate the exits of most people 16 and older and $2,500 for most who are below that age, according to seven people who have gone through this process or tried to do so.

Officials at Hala did not respond to questions sent by email.

But Ibrahim al- Organi, whose firm, Organi Group, has listed Hala as one of its companies and who describes himself as a shareholder, disputed that the company charged those amounts, insisting that children traveled for free and that adults paid $2,500. He said that amount was necessary because the service Hala provides is a “VIP” one, and he argued that operating costs had skyrocketed during the war.

Al-Organi, a tycoon with a history of helping the Egyptian government fight extremists in the Sinai Peninsula, maintains close connections to top Egyptian officials, according to three people who have tracked the relationship and spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their work in the region. He denied benefiting unfairly from his connections.

Hala makes people go through a complicated bureaucratic process to register their loved ones. The company requires a family member to visit its offices in Cairo and pay for the service in $100 bills issued in or after 2013, according to Ghayyda and three other people with knowledge of Hala’s payment process. Al-Organi denied knowledge of the practice and said those who paid in $100 bills had been scammed by illegal brokers.

In February, when Ghayyda traveled to Egypt’s capital to register his parents, sister and nephew, he brought his 23-year-old son with him to avoid carrying more than $10,000 by himself. By that time, he had raised around $25,000.

“The whole process was quite time-consuming, complex and uncertain,” he said.

In an interview at his office in Cairo, al-Organi spoke at length and in detail about Hala’s activities, although he said his role in the company is limited and that he is one of many shareholders. Hala has long been listed on Organi Group’s website as one of the conglomerate’s companies, but the reference appeared to have been removed recently. Organi Group did not respond to a request for comment when asked why they had removed Hala from their website.

Al-Organi described Hala as a tourism company, “just like any company that exists at an airport,” and said it had been set up in 2017 to provide VIP services to Palestinian travelers who wanted an upgraded experience crossing through Rafah.

“I help them only when they want to get into the VIP hall, to have breakfast, to be driven to Cairo in a nice BMW, to have a rest stop, and then go on to their destination,” he said. “Our role is to provide the best service possible, that’s it.”

Multiple Palestinians who used Hala’s service during the war said they were not offered a VIP service: They were driven to Cairo in a minibus and were given basic food. Al-Organi said wartime demand for services, such as the drive from Rafah to Cairo, had forced the company to raise its prices.

When asked about the accusations against Egypt cited in this story, the Egyptian government referred the Times to previous comments made by Egyptian officials, including Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

Shoukry told Sky News in February that he did not condone Hala’s collecting $5,000 in fees and said Egypt would take measures to eliminate the fees. The government did not respond to a request for comment on its relationship with Hala.

In a statement in mid- May, GoFundMe said more than $150 million had been contributed to fundraisers related to the war in Gaza and about 19,000 campaigns had been created on its platform, including for evacuations, medical care and food.

The contributors include friends, relatives and their social networks, but also strangers without direct connections to those promoting the fundraisers.