2023-11-05 02:23:03
The wait will continue for foreigners stuck in Gaza. The Hamas government suspended their evacuation and that of dual nationals to Egypt due to Israel’s refusal to let injured Palestinians leave for Egyptian hospitals, a crossing point administration official said on Saturday.
“No foreign passport holder will be able to leave the Gaza Strip before the wounded who must be evacuated from hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip can be transported to the Rafah crossing”, a crossing point between the Palestinian territory and the Egypt, the official said on condition of anonymity.
A source within the Egyptian security services confirmed that “no injured people or foreign passport holders arrived at the Egyptian terminal” of Rafah on Saturday. Crossings were suspended, this source added, “after the bombing of ambulances transporting injured people en route to the Egyptian terminal”.
Ambulance bombing
Sources within Hamas indicated that Israel had refused to authorize the departure to Egypt of numerous wounded whose names appeared on a list transmitted to Egyptian authorities. On Friday, the IDF confirmed that it struck an ambulance in front of al-Chifa hospital, the largest in Gaza. The army claimed it was “used by a Hamas terrorist cell”. This bombing left 15 dead and 60 injured, according to the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health.
The targeted vehicle was part of a convoy of ambulances preparing to transport injured people to the Rafah crossing with Egypt, according to the Hamas health ministry. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN said they were “deeply shocked” and “alarmed”, recalling that “patients, caregivers, establishments and ambulances must be protected at all times”. The Israeli army accuses Hamas of “waging war from hospitals” in the Gaza Strip, which the Islamist movement categorically denies.
Since Wednesday, several hundred foreigners and dual nationals have been evacuated from Gaza, which has been relentlessly shelled by Israel since the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7 on its soil and which left more than 1,400 dead, mainly civilians. according to Israeli authorities. Dozens of wounded Palestinians were also able to reach Egyptian territory where they were hospitalized in various establishments in Sinai. Israeli bombings on Gaza have left nearly 9,500 dead, mainly civilians including 3,900 children, and thousands injured, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
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