Read the latest update on the suspension of foreign nationals’ evacuation from Gaza due to Israel’s refusal to transfer Palestinian wounded to Egyptian hospitals, and the entry of aid trucks amidst escalating tensions.
Gaza Evacuation Halted as Israel Denies Wounded Palestinians Transfer to Egypt
The government of the Gaza Strip has suspended the evacuation of foreign nationals and those with dual citizenship to Egypt following Israel’s refusal to allow the transfer of Palestinian wounded to Egyptian hospitals, a responsible source at the Crossings Authority told the French Press Agency on Saturday.
The unnamed source stated, “No foreign passport holders will leave the Gaza Strip until the coordination and evacuation of the wounded from hospitals in Gaza and the north towards the Rafah crossing” with Egypt are completed.
An Egyptian security source confirmed to the agency that “no injured person or foreign passport holder had reached the Egyptian Rafah crossing” on Saturday, adding that movement stopped “after the ambulance vehicles transferring the injured to the crossing were bombed.”
Hamas sources indicated that Israel had refused to allow many of the wounded, whose names were on the list sent to the Egyptian authorities, to leave for Egypt.
The Israeli military confirmed last Friday that it had bombed an ambulance outside the largest hospital in Gaza, Al-Shifa, claiming it was transporting Hamas members, a claim denied by the movement. The bombing resulted in 15 deaths and 60 injuries, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The targeted vehicle was part of a convoy of ambulances preparing to transfer the injured to the Rafah crossing with Egypt, the Health Ministry reported.
Since last Wednesday, hundreds of foreigners and dual nationals have been evacuated from Gaza, which has been under relentless Israeli bombardment since the attack carried out by the Al-Qassam Brigades on October 7, which left more than 1,400 Israeli dead.
Dozens of Palestinian wounded have also been transferred to Egyptian territory, where they are being treated in various health institutions in Sinai.
The continuous Israeli bombardment of Gaza has resulted in nearly 9,500 deaths, most of them civilians, including 3,900 children, in addition to thousands of injuries, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
In other developments, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said on Saturday that it had received 30 trucks loaded with aid through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, while the entry of fuel continues to be prohibited.
The shipment included trucks allocated for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and the Egyptian Red Crescent, designated for its Palestinian counterpart.
Four of these trucks contained medical supplies and medicines, while the rest were loaded with food, water, and relief aid.
With this latest delivery, the association says the number of trucks received since October 21 has risen to 451, averaging 30 trucks per day, at a time when the occupying authorities have yet to allow the entry of fuel.
On October 21, the first relief convoy entered Gaza, comprising 20 trucks, mostly with medical and food supplies, 13 days after the start of the war on the Palestinian resistance, which launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on the seventh of the month in response to the severe Israeli blockade on the sector and targeting of Palestinian residents and their holy sites.
For more information and updates on the situation in Gaza, visit dzwatch.net.
