Today, another group of foreigners and wounded Palestinians evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Egypt via the Rafah border crossing. This was reported by the Reuters agency with reference to Egyptian security sources. Among the evacuees are Polish and Russian citizens.
The PAP agency, citing Polish officials, wrote that Poles are also among those evacuated to Egypt. 60 Russian citizens also left the Gaza Strip through Rafah, TASS reported. At the same time, several injured Palestinians have arrived in Egyptian territory for medical treatment, as well as 80 foreigners and dependents, with others undergoing border control.
Evacuations through Rafah were suspended on Friday due to problems transporting wounded Palestinians from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army is conducting a ground operation. It launched this in response to the October 7 attack in which Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza say retaliatory Israeli attacks have since killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, including a number of civilians.
The war has forced more than two-thirds of the Gaza Strip’s total population of 2.3 million to flee their homes. Most of the refugees moved from the northern epicenter of the fighting to the south of the Strip in accordance with Israel’s call. Egypt has allowed hundreds of foreign passport holders and doctors to travel through Rafah, allowing some humanitarian organizations to enter in the opposite direction.
During today’s service, Pope Francis called for immediate medical care for all the wounded in the Gaza Strip. It is also calling for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into the area and the release of all hostages taken by Hamas militants in the October 7 attack. (ČTK)
Tags: foreigners wounded Palestinians evacuated Gaza Egypt Rafah
