Wounded Palestinians and foreign passport holders leave Gaza into Egypt

Egyptian hospitals close to the Gaza border have been receiving wounded Palestinians since the early afternoon on Wednesday 1 November. Some of these hospitals have been set up explicitly for that purpose.

The Palestinians were victims of the Israeli strikes against Gaza; the majority of hospitals in Gaza have been disabled as a result of the strikes and the Israeli blockade which leaves Gaza without incoming food, water, fuel, and medical supplies.

Egyptian ambulance vehicles had crossed the border this morning with medical teams who examined the wounded in Gaza and transported them into Egypt for treatment.

In Egypt, a fleet of 40 ambulance vehicles carried the injured to hospitals in Arish, Bir al-Abd and Sheikh Zuwayed in North Sinai, also and in Isamiliya, 166km west of the border.

Foreigners and dual nationality Palestinians will be allowed to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing during the coming days. The Rafah crossing on the Egypt Gaza border is the main entrance and exit point to Gaza. Among them will be Red Cross staff and members of NGOs working in the Gaza Strip.

They will all be allowed to enter Egypt provided they directly leave it to their home countries; passes for entry into Egypt will only be issued if pledges to that effect are furnished by the consular sections of their embassies in Cairo.

According to Reuters, a diplomatic source briefed on Egyptian plans said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would be evacuated from Gaza over the course of about two weeks, adding that al-Arish airport would be made available to fly people out.

Also on 1 November, 40 trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed from Egypt into Gaza. According to the State-linked al-Qahera News Channel, 50 other trucks will be dispatched later.

The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is now on its 25th day. According to Gaza official sources, Israeli strikes have killed at least 8,796 Palestinians, including 3,648 children. Israel has bombarded Gaza in retaliation to a Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October, which killed some 300 soldiers and 1,100 civilians, and took more than 200 hostages.