Foreign Nationals were allowed by Hamas to leave the Gaza strip for the first time on Wednesday in a deal mediated by Qatar, and included the removal of dozens of injured Palestinians from the Strip, to Egypt where they are to be treated in a field hospital built on the Egyptian side of the border.
Foreign Nationals leaving the Gaza strip to Egypt
(Reuters)
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International media outlets said the border opening to allow residents from the strip to escape the fighting was achieved in an agreement between Qatar, Egypt, Israel and Hamas. An unnamed official who was close to the deal told Reuters that it was not linked to other issues, such as the release the 240 hostages held by Hamas and a "humanitarian pause" in the fighting which many countries have called for but which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.
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Foreign nationals leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt
(צילום: Arafat Barbakh / Reuters)
The U.S. has been attempting to facilitate the removal of American passport holder from Gaza and accused Hamas of making unspecified demands while preventing their departure.
The agreement that was reached would according to reports, ultimately allow 500 foreign passport holders and foreign nationals to leave but not all would be able to do so on Wednesday. Hamas officials on the border said thus far 281 Jordanians have been allowed to leave along with others from Japan, Finland, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, and Indonesia, as well as seven employees of the ICRC and 35 members of human rights groups.
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Foreign nationals leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt
(Photo: Mohammed Abed / AFP)
CNN said Americans were not expected to be included in the first group of foreign nationals allowed to leave Gaza. A Western source told the network that it was unclear if and when the 400 American passport holders and their 600 family members would be allowed by Hamas to leave.
Many gathered at the border crossing in Gaza in the early morning hours as word spread that an agreement had been agreed. At the same time a convoy of Egyptian ambulances entered Gaza and returned later with 80 severely injured Palestinians, the number that Egypt had agreed to take in and treat.
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Egyptian ambulances line up at the Rafah border crossing to cross into Gaza
(Photo: Reuters)
"The identity of the wounded is known to Israel, and approved by security services," and Israeli official said adding no Hamas terrorists were among the evacuated wounded.
The French news agency AFP reported that 88 people including 40 children were on the list of wounded to be evacuated and that where they would be treated was unclear. The field hospital established by the Egyptians is located in the Sinai, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the Gaza border. Israel said it had asked the international community for hospital ships to be deployed off the Gaza coast.
A health official in the Hamas government told AFP that the terror group submitted a lost of a further 4,000 wounded that he said would not be able to receive adequate treatment in Gaza. "We hope they would be able to leave in the coming days because they require surgery that was not possible in the Strip," he said.