Middle East
Egypt: Around 7,000 foreigners want to leave the Gaza Strip
A US citizen holds his passport while waiting at the border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Foreign nationals from 60 countries want to leave the country. photo
© Mohammed Talatene/dpa
Thousands of foreigners and Palestinian dual nationals want to leave the Gaza Strip. Egypt is trying to find a solution in the midst of the Gaza war.
It is unclear whether the 7,000 are only foreign nationals or also Palestinians with a second passport. It is also unclear whether there are other foreigners in Gaza who do not want to leave.
The ministry did not say how long the foreigners should leave the country or whether there was already an agreement to open the Rafah border crossing.
According to Palestinian information, around 600 foreigners and Palestinians with dual citizenship are scheduled to leave for Egypt today. A list from the Palestinian Authority at the Rafah border crossing included 400 Americans as well as people from Switzerland, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, Croatia, Mexico, South Korea and other countries. The border authority called on these travelers to wait at the border crossing early. German citizens were not on the list.
Treatment in Egyptian hospitals
Yesterday, for the first time since the beginning of the Gaza war, hundreds of foreign nationals and Palestinians with second passports left the sealed-off coastal area. There were also Germans among them. According to the Foreign Office, they were employees of international aid organizations who were met at the border crossing by a team from the Cairo embassy. For the first time on Wednesday, injured Palestinians were taken to Egyptian hospitals for treatment.
Qatar had agreed the first departures together with the USA, Egypt, Israel and Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, as a person familiar with the talks told the German Press Agency. “This is a separate deal unrelated to the negotiations for the release of hostages held by Hamas,” the person said. Negotiations about opening the border had been going on since the beginning of the war, it was said.
As a result of the devastating Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th, Israel is massively attacking targets in the Gaza Strip and has sealed off the densely populated coastal strip. The United Nations speaks of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.