2023-11-01 18:49:05
A first since the start of the war. Dozens of wounded Palestinians left the Gaza Strip, subject to incessant bombardments by the Israeli army, by ambulance this Wednesday, November 1, to be treated in Egypt. This announcement, a rare positive development in 26 days, was made to AFP by an Egyptian official on condition of anonymity around 9:30 a.m. Egyptian television broadcast live the entry of these vehicles on the Egyptian side of the terminal of Rafah, the only opening to the world in the Gaza Strip, where the humanitarian situation is considered catastrophic for the 2.4 million inhabitants crowded there.
Egyptian caregivers and rescuers transferred the injured Palestinians and examined them before carrying them on stretchers to Egyptian ambulances. On the Palestinian side of the border, an AFP journalist saw at least 40 ambulances, each carrying two injured people, heading towards the highly secure terminal.
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The injured will be transported, according to Egyptian television, to a field hospital in Cheikh Zoueid, about ten km from Rafah, as well as to Al-Arich, capital of the North Sinai province and, for cases the most critical, to hospitals in Cairo. Egypt insists that the nearly 90 injured people authorized to cross this Wednesday leave Gaza before the approximately 545 dual nationals and foreigners apparently authorized to leave. A list with their name, nationality and passport number was published by the administration of the Palestinian side of the crossing.
Five French people were evacuated from Gaza to Egypt
A “first group of five French nationals” is among the more than 400 people evacuated this Wednesday from the Palestinian territory of Gaza to Egypt, announced the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We are continuing our efforts so that all of our compatriots, our agents and their families who wish to do so can leave Gaza as soon as possible,” adds the Quai d’Orsay, which specifies that around fifty French nationals and their families are affected. The five French people evacuated are humanitarians, according to NGO sources.
In total, 76 injured Palestinians and 335 foreigners and dual nationals were evacuated this Wednesday from the Gaza Strip, according to an Egyptian official. This is the first operation of this type since the start of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas. The Egyptian authorities had indicated that they were exceptionally opening the Rafah crossing to allow this first evacuation operation. The Rafah crossing is expected to be opened again on Thursday to allow further evacuations, according to a source within the Egyptian security services.
“We reiterate our call to protect all civilians in Gaza,” said the statement from the Quai d’Orsay. Tuesday evening, the French ministry announced the death of two French children in the Gaza Strip.
Jabaliya refugee camp: UN denounces new “atrocity”
The head of UN humanitarian operations Martin Griffiths denounced this Wednesday the bombing, the day before, of the Jabaliya refugee camp. “This is simply the latest atrocity to hit the people of Gaza where the fighting has entered an even more terrifying phase, with increasingly appalling humanitarian consequences,” he said in a statement, deploring that “the world seems incapable, even reluctant, to act” to end this war.
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The Israeli army confirmed Tuesday evening this bombing which, according to it, targeted a Hamas commander, Ibrahim Biari, presented as one of those responsible for the October 7 attack. This “elimination” took place “as part of a vast operation to combat terrorists and terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Jabaliya Central Battalion, which had taken control of civilian buildings in the Gaza Strip.”
According to Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israeli army, Ibrahim Biari was in “a vast complex of underground tunnels from where he directed operations.” “We hit this complex and we estimate that dozens of Hamas fighters were with it and were also killed when the underground complex collapsed,” he said during a press briefing.
Hamas claimed on Wednesday that seven hostages, “including three foreign passport holders”, had been killed in this bombing in Jabaliya – an assertion that could not immediately be verified by an independent source.
Nine Israeli soldiers die in Gaza fighting
The Israeli army published this Wednesday the names of nine soldiers killed in combat the day before in Gaza, bringing to 326 the number of its military losses since the Hamas attack on October 7. The death of these soldiers represents “a hard and painful blow,” responded Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
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“We are prepared and ready for a long and complex campaign,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting the “important successes” of the Israeli army in Gaza. The Israeli army has announced that it has struck more than 11,000 targets in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.
“Total” internet and telephone cutoff in Gaza
The Palestinian telecommunications operator Paltel announced this Wednesday a “total” cut of telephone and internet lines in the Gaza Strip, besieged by the Israeli army. “We regret to announce to the compatriots of our beloved country a total interruption of communications and Internet services in Gaza,” Paltel said on the social network X.
Network watchdog Netblocks confirmed that “live measurements show that the Gaza Strip is experiencing a new internet outage with a significant impact on the operator Paltel.” The incident means “a complete loss of telecommunications for most residents”, he added.
Antony Blinken and Israel vendredi
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken will visit Israel on Friday as part of a second tour of the Middle East since the start of the war triggered by the Hamas attack on October 7, his spokesperson announced Tuesday evening. word. There he “will meet with Israeli government officials and make other stops in the region,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters, without specifying which ones.
President Joe Biden, for his part, spoke with the King of Jordan, Abdullah II, with whom he “discussed emergency mechanisms to curb violence, calm rhetoric and reduce regional tensions”, indicated Tuesday evening a White House press release.
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