Status: 02.11.2023, 10:38 a.m.
CommentsShare
Palestinians with dual nationality register at the Rafah crossing to leave for Egypt. © Hatem Ali/AP
In addition to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, foreigners are also trapped in the Gaza Strip. Thanks to an agreement brokered by Qatar, hundreds more of them can now pass through the Rafah crossing.
Cairo/Gaza - Some 400 foreigners and Palestinians with dual citizenship have left the Gaza Strip for Egypt. They arrived on Thursday in the Egyptian part of the Rafah crossing, as the Egyptian Red Crescent confirmed to the German Press Agency. In addition, the departure of 200 more holders of foreign passports is planned for today.
According to one list, around 400 Americans and people from Switzerland, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, Croatia, Mexico, South Korea and other countries were to leave the country. In the transit area, they completed formalities for entry into Egypt, said Raed Abdel Nasser, secretary-general of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai. The Palestinian Border Authority had asked them to wait at the crossing.
According to Egypt, a total of about 7000,60 foreign nationals from <> countries are waiting to leave the Gaza Strip. In this context, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited representatives of foreign embassies to a meeting in Cairo to provide information on the documents required for entry into Egypt as well as the logistics. It remained unclear whether there are other foreigners in Gaza who do not want to leave.
Israel is massively attacking targets in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the devastating Hamas terror attack on October 7 and has sealed off the densely populated coastal strip. The United Nations speaks of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. About 1.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting inside the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, for the first time since the beginning of the Gaza war, hundreds of foreigners and Palestinians with second passports left the sealed coastal area. The UN Office for Emergency Relief (OCHA) spoke of about 350 people. Among them were Germans. On Thursday, there were no German citizens on the list.
Qatar had agreed on the departures together with the United States, Egypt, Israel and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, a person familiar with the talks told the German Press Agency. "This is a separate deal with no connection to the negotiations for the release of hostages in the hands of Hamas," the person said. Negotiations on the opening of the border have been going on since the beginning of the war, it said.
The Hamas-led terrorist attack on the Israeli border area on October 7 resulted in the deportation of some 240 people to the Gaza Strip, including many foreigners. Dpa