First group of foreigners evacuated from Gaza

People move through the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt

AFP news agency on November 1 quoted an Egyptian official as saying that the first group of foreigners and dual nationals had just left the Gaza Strip and entered Egypt through the Rafah border gate, most of them women and children.

An Egyptian television station broadcast images of people in strollers and elderly people getting off a bus at the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side.

Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sufyan al-Qudah also confirmed the evacuation of Jordanian citizens from the Gaza Strip. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said the evacuation was carried out in coordination with Egyptian authorities, through the Rafah border crossing so that Jordanian citizens could return home as soon as possible.

The evacuation is expected to take several days, Mr Sufyan said. A team from the Jordanian Embassy in Cairo has arrived at the Rafah border crossing to ensure the transport of Jordanian citizens by bus.

Earlier, The Guardian quoted Mr. Nahed Abu Taeema, director of Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip, saying that 19 of the most seriously injured patients at his hospital would be among the 81 people evacuated to Egypt.

"These are people who need surgery but cannot be operated on here due to lack of capacity, especially women and children," he said. Egypt has prepared a field hospital and also plans to transfer some patients to nearby hospitals.

In a related development, CNN quoted a US official as saying that President Joe Biden's administration is monitoring an agreement for foreigners to leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing.

Regarding casualties, the Health Authority in the Gaza Strip said on November 1 that 8,796 people had been killed, including 3,648 children, since Israel retaliated against Hamas' cross-border attack, killing more than 1,400 people.

An estimated 1.4 million people in the Gaza Strip have been displaced. Up to 500 foreigners and 81 seriously injured people are expected to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on November 1 called on Arab and Muslim countries to continue supporting the Palestinian people and called on the US to stop military support for Israel. He hoped the Rafah border crossing would remain open in both directions.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/nhom-nguoi-nuoc-ngoai-dau-tien-duoc-so-tan-khoi-gaza-185231101201114248.htm