The General Authority of Crossings and Borders of Gaza announced today that the Rafah crossing, bordering Egypt, will open this Thursday to complete the exit operation of people with foreign passports from the Strip.
In a statement, the organization, dependent on the Ministry of the Interior of Gaza, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, indicated that Egypt has informed them of the opening of Rafah during the day tomorrow so that they can leave the Palestinian enclave “the rest of foreigners from the list” that he has in his possession.
He warned that only those who appear on that list will be able to leave the Strip through Rafah.
According to data from the official spokesman for the Rafah crossing, at least 76 injured and 335 Palestinians with foreign passports and citizens of other countries left for Egypt this Wednesday.
EFE was able to verify the departure from Gaza of several batches of people with foreign passports and ambulances with wounded people.
Rafah crossing opened for the first time
This is the first time that the Rafah crossing has been opened for the march of wounded and foreigners from Gaza since the beginning of the conflict.
The general director of Gaza hospitals, Mohamed Zaqut, said in a statement that the Ministry of Health has presented a list with 400 people with foreign passports to leave for Egypt, although they have expanded it to 600 and are waiting to receive an answer.
The organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirmed this Wednesday that the 22 international workers it has in the Gaza Strip are being evacuated to Egypt, through the Rafah border crossing, a spokesperson for the NGO told EFE.
A list of 500 people
The General Agency for Crossings and Borders in Gaza published last morning a list of some 500 people, which includes both Palestinians with foreign passports and citizens of other countries, who have been given authorization to leave the Strip.
There are two Spaniards on that list: a worker from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and another from the Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process (UNSCO).
Other nationalities mentioned in that list are Japanese, Austrians, Czechs and Bulgarians, among whom there are Palestinians with dual nationality and citizens of those countries.
There are also employees of international organizations such as MSF, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UN agencies such as the Palestinian Refugees Agency (UNRWA). The list does not
specify who has a US passport, although this is one of the most numerous groups within the Gaza Strip, since many of those who appear on this list are named as Palestinians with another passport or as “internationals.”
22 employees of Doctors Without Borders evacuated in Gaza
The organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) confirmed this Wednesday that the 22 international workers it has in the Gaza Strip are being evacuated to Egypt, through the Rafah border crossing, a spokesperson for the NGO told EFE.
“The process is still underway and we cannot provide more information at the moment,” he noted.
For the first time since the start of the war on October 7, the Rafah crossing has been opened, the only exit to the outside of Gaza, since the rest of the crossings are on the border with Israel, for the exit of wounded and Palestinians with foreign passport, as well as citizens of other countries.
The death toll in Gaza is around 8,800, 3,648 minors
The deaths in Gaza due to Israeli bombings have risen to almost 8,800, and the injured are more than 22,219, reported this Wednesday Ashraf Al Qudra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health of the enclave, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas.
According to him, among the deceased there are at least 3,698 minors and almost 2,300 women, while the intense bombing by Israel and its ground operation on the Strip continue, immersed in a serious humanitarian crisis and extreme scarcity due to the Israeli blockade that almost completely vetoes the entry of food, water, fuel or medicine.
The Israeli military said today that it has attacked more than 11,000 Hamas targets since the war against Palestinian militias began on October 7, when the Islamist group’s militants carried out a surprise attack on Israel that included a ground raid where they killed more than 1,400. people.
A second Israeli attack on Jabalia in Gaza causes a “massacre”, according to Hamas
Israeli forces bombed this Wednesday, for the second time in less than 24 hours, the Jabalia refugee camp, in the north of the Gaza Strip, in a new attack that represents “another tragic massacre,” said the Islamist group Hamas, which controls in enclave.
The attack caused “dozens of deaths and injuries,” according to the official Palestinian agency Wafa, which stated that the bombing targeted the Falujah neighborhood, in the same field, and estimated that among the dead and injured there may have been many women and children.
The Islamist group Hamas, ruling in Gaza, assured that Israel “perpetrated a tragic massacre”, in what it described as “the second consecutive crime in the Jabalia field in less than 24 hours.”
“These heartbreaking events are part of a harrowing sequence of massacres in the Gaza Strip that will forever cast a dark shadow on the collective conscience of humanity,” added Hamas, which denounced that “the international community remains silent” in the face of the Israeli offensive. about the enclave that in 26 days of war has left almost 8,800 dead and more than 22,200 injured.
UN: At least 50 dead in the attack on the Yabalia camp
The bombing this Tuesday of the Jabalia refugee camp, in northern Gaza, caused “the destruction of an entire neighborhood with 30 residential buildings” and at least 50 deaths, indicated today the United Nations conflict situation report, which reported also other attacks on residential areas.
Along with the attack on Jabalia, which according to other hospital sources in Gaza caused at least 145 deaths, the UN reported as particularly lethal in the last 24 hours two attacks on family homes in the central area of the strip and the capital that caused 18, respectively. and 15 dead.
The one in the central zone, an area where according to the UN the bombings have been particularly intense in the last 48 hours, “killed three generations of the same family,” noted the daily report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
A convoy of 53 humanitarian aid trucks enters Gaza
A total of 53 trucks loaded with food and medical supplies entered the Gaza Strip today through the Rafah border crossing, which connects the Palestinian enclave with Egypt, thus being the largest convoy to enter in one day after passing the inspection of the Israeli authorities.
The trucks entered in two batches, one of 20 units early in the morning and another of 23 in the middle of the afternoon, after passing through the corresponding Israeli control to check the load of each of the vehicles that had been waiting for hours on the side. Egyptian border of Rafah.
This is the largest entry of trucks with humanitarian aid into the humanitarian enclave since Israel gave the green light for their access eleven days ago; after another 39 trucks arrived yesterday with medicines, food and blankets.
The aid brought to the enclave from Egypt in recent days has not included fuel, an element vetoed by the Jewish State for fear that it would reach the hands of the Islamist group Hamas, although it is extremely necessary for the hospitals, bakeries and shops to continue functioning. water purification plants.
Israel accuses WHO of giving “carte blanche to terrorists”
The World Health Organization (WHO) “is giving carte blanche to terrorists to use health infrastructure for their actions,” stated the Israeli embassy at the UN in Geneva, after days of exchanges of accusations between Israel and the United Nations agency. United by attacks on hospitals.
In a message published last night on its official X account (formerly Twitter), the Israeli mission stressed that “hospitals should never be a target, but neither should they be used as a shield.”
Palestinians displaced by settler violence in the West Bank increase
Nearly 2,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank since 2022, and 43% of them have been forced to leave their homes since the outbreak of war between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza on October 7. The United Nations reported today.
Since this date, “settler violence has increased significantly, from an average of three incidents per day in 2023 to a current average of seven per day” in recent weeks, reported the United Nations Humanitarian Aid Coordination Office (OCHA). ) it’s a statement.
“In this period, OCHA has recorded 171 settler attacks against Palestinians,” and also increased “pressure on Palestinians to leave” in multiple cases “of harassment, invasion and intimidation,” it notes.
This context of violence on the part of settlers, in many cases armed, to which is added the increasing restriction of movement, has meant that 15 livestock communities in the West Bank – some 828 people, including 313 children – had to be forcibly moved from the October 7.
In turn, “access restrictions by Israeli authorities have intensified throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” and are “particularly serious in areas close to Israeli settlements” and areas adjacent to the Israeli separation wall from the West Bank. specific OCHA.
Hamas celebrates Bolivia’s decision and Israel accuses it of “surrendering to terrorism”
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which de facto governs the Gaza Strip, today celebrated the decision of the Government of Bolivia to break diplomatic relations with “the occupying power”, in reference to Israel.
“We highly praise the brave stance taken by the Bolivian Government to sever relations with the Zionist entity, which occurred in response to the Israeli fascist aggression and the atrocious massacres committed every minute against our people in the already blockaded Gaza Strip,” said a statement from the Palestinian group.
On the other hand, Israel today accused the Government of Bolivia of “surrendering to terrorism and the Ayatollah’s regime in Iran.”
“The decision of the Government of Bolivia to break diplomatic relations with Israel is a surrender to terrorism and the regime of the Ayatollahs in Iran. By adopting this measure, the Bolivian Government aligns itself with the terrorist organization Hamas,” the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
By Usmana Kousar
