Egypt will help evacuate 7,000 foreigners from Gaza

Egypt says that about 7,000 holders of foreign passports will be able to leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah checkpoint.

Source: The Times of Israel, citing Assistant Foreign Minister Ismail Khairat at a meeting with foreign diplomats; Mykola Nahornyi, Ambassador of Ukraine to Egypt, in an interview with Radio Liberty

Details: The media says that Khairat said that Egypt is preparing to “to facilitate the reception and evacuation of foreign citizens from Gaza through the Rafah crossing.” He added that it is about 7,000 people representing more than 60 nationalities.

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On 1 November, Ukrainian Ambassador to Egypt Mykola Nahornyi also confirmed that it is planned to evacuate about 7,000 foreigners. There are 358 people on the Ukrainian list.

Background: 

• On 12 October, the IDF issued an appeal to Gaza Strip residents urging civilians to evacuate to the south for their own safety and warning them that the army will carry on with their strikes against the Hamas terrorist group.
• 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 was open but evacuation was impossible due to Israeli bombardment. Israel claimed that Hamas militants were 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.
• The Egyptian authorities received lists of Ukrainian citizens for evacuation from the Gaza Strip on 16 October. 
• The Rafah crossing point on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt has been opened for evacuation from the enclave. 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.

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