Foreigners and wounded from the Gaza Strip left for Egypt: the checkpoint was opened for the first time since the beginning of the conflict

On November 1, hundreds of foreign passport holders and wounded people trapped in the Gaza Strip began fleeing the war-torn territory. Rafah, the border crossing with Egypt, was opened for them for the first time after the Hamas attacks on Israel, reports CBS.

Photo: IStock

Gaza's Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry has published a list of foreign passport holders who can leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

At least five non-governmental organization (NGO) employees who have been confirmed to be American are listed to cross the border. But it remains to be seen how many of the at least 400 American citizens the US State Department says are stuck in the Gaza Strip will be able to cross the border in the coming days.

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One American woman trapped in the Gaza Strip said she could not yet cross the border.

“Today they started releasing foreigners, but they're not Americans, because I think we're not as important as we thought,” Utah resident Susan Beseiso said Nov. 1.

“The American Embassy and State Department have not called us since we last went to the border and were bombed four times. They didn’t communicate with us or do anything to get us out,” Beseyso said. “It’s like they’re holding us hostage—it’s not Hamas that’s holding us hostage, it’s the IDF, Egyptian and American soldiers.” They are using us as a human shield in a sense.”

The border was opened for the wounded

Footage shows checkpoint gates on the Palestinian side of the border opening on the morning of November 1 as people began crossing into Egypt for the first time since the war began. Convoys carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid have previously passed between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, but so far not a single person has been allowed through the Rafah crossing.

About 545 foreigners and dual citizens, as well as dozens of sick and injured people, were expected to leave the country.

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After they were allowed to enter the terminal area, huge queues of people waiting to exit formed around the booths for checking passports and other documents.

The first ambulances carrying wounded Palestinians from war-torn Gaza entered Egypt through the Rafah crossing on November 1.

The area around the Rafah border crossing terminal was damaged during Israeli air raids.

Some of those being flown to Egyptian hospitals for treatment are among more than 15 wounded after the Israeli strikes, which the ministry said killed more than 000 people, two-thirds of them women and children.

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Meanwhile, internet watchdog Netblocks and major Palestinian operator Paltel said on social media on November 1 that the entire Gaza Strip was cut off from the internet. The Internet in the Gaza Strip was already cut off for 48 hours last week when Israel announced it was expanding its ground operation. Telecommunications were restored on October 30.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• October 7 Hamas attacked Israel: Netanyahu said "this is war."
• 8 October The Israeli government officially declared war and greenlighted "significant military steps" in response to the surprise attack by Hamas militants.
• October 11, first plane with American weapons arrived in southern Israel, and the US government invited American citizens wishing to leave Israel evacuation flights. On October 14 it became known: Egypt, Israel and the United States agreed that foreigners living in the Gaza Strip, will be able to travel through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.
• October 16 President US Joe Biden said Israeli occupation Gaza Strip would be a big mistake.
• Hossein Amir-Abdallahian, Iranian Foreign Minister, October 18 posted a tweet where he wrote that Israel’s time is “running out”. This happened after a rocket attack on a hospital in Gaza took place on October 17.
• 18 October US President Joe Biden visited Israelto express strong support for a country that has declared war on the Palestinian group Hamas due to its brutal terror.
• 19 October US President Joe Biden addressed the Americans from the Oval Office with a speech about the wars between Israel and Hamas, as well as Russia and Ukraine.
• October 24 Hamas released two hostages: about what one of them said.
• On October 24, at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the situation in the Middle East is becoming more dire by the hour and called on all parties to respect and protect civilians. Israel reacted angrily to comments by the UN Secretary General.
• Israeli troops and tanks conducted a raid in the Gaza Strip on the night of October 26. The military said it carried out several strikes on terrorist targets to “prepare the battlefield” ahead of a major ground operation.
• 27 October two Egyptian cities on the Red Sea were bombed – six people were injured. The aggressor has again demonstrated the danger of the conflict between Israel and Gaza spreading throughout the region. In the same day representatives of Iran and Hamas inmet in Moscow to talk about Israel.

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