Rafah border crossing opened to evacuate some wounded and foreigners from Gaza

The Rafah crossing point on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt has been opened for evacuation from the enclave. Palestinian group Hamas said some foreigners and wounded Palestinians would be allowed to evacuate from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. There are no Ukrainians in the group.

Source: Bloomberg with reference to an official at Gaza’s Hamas-run interior ministry; Mykola Nahornyi, Ambassador of Ukraine to Egypt, to Radio Liberty

Details: The ministry reported that about 81 wounded Palestinians will leave through the Rafah border crossing for treatment in Egyptian hospitals.

In addition, some foreigners and dual citizens are also expected to have an opportunity to enter Egypt. In particular, the list includes the International Committee of the Red Cross workers, citizens of Australia, Austria, Jordan and Indonesia.

Added: Mykola Nahornyi, Ambassador of Ukraine to Egypt, reported that so far, about 500 people have received permission to leave the Gaza Strip. However, this does not apply to Ukrainian citizens yet.

Quote: "About 500 people have received permits. The order of countries is more or less alphabetical. But our citizens are not being evacuated yet."

Details: As Nahornyi reported, the number of Ukrainians who need to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip has increased. Currently, there are 358 people on the embassy’s list.

As the embassy noted, there are wounded and sick Ukrainians in Gazan hospitals. The Egyptian Red Cross should facilitate their evacuation if permission is granted.

Quote: "We have established contacts with the Egyptian Red Cross. That is, Egypt will be ready to assist in the evacuation of these people to the territory of Egypt when evacuation is allowed," the ambassador says.

More details: Later, the Embassy of Ukraine in Egypt confirmed the information that the Rafah checkpoint had been opened for evacuation. There are still no Ukrainians among them. The evacuation is being carried out in the established order.

Background: 

• On 12 October, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told the residents of the northern part of the Gaza Strip they had 24 hours to evacuate further south for their safety.
• The Rafah border crossing is on the border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Hamas-controlled Gaza, in the south of the enclave.
• Earlier, the media wrote about its closure due to Israeli strikes. However, Egypt stated that the Rafah border crossing is open but evacuation is impossible due to Israeli bombardment. Israel claimed that Hamas militants are blocking the evacuation of Palestinians from the northern Gaza Strip.
• On 14 October, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner, arrived in Cairo, Egypt, to help organise the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from the Gaza Strip. Almost 260 Ukrainians need urgent evacuation.
• On 16 October, a Ukrainian official reported that the Egyptian authorities had received lists of Ukrainian citizens for evacuation from the Gaza Strip.

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