According to Egypt, around 7,000 foreign nationals from 60 countries are waiting to leave the embattled Gaza Strip. This was announced by the Foreign Ministry in Cairo. The ministry invited representatives of foreign embassies to a meeting in Cairo to provide information about the documents required for leaving the country and the logistics.
It is unclear whether the 7,000 are only foreign nationals or also Palestinians with a second passport. It is also unclear whether there are other foreigners in Gaza who do not want to leave.
The ministry did not say how long the foreigners should leave the country or whether there was already an agreement to open the Rafah border crossing.
On Wednesday, hundreds of foreign nationals and Palestinians with second passports left the sealed-off coastal area for the first time since the beginning of the Gaza war. There were also Germans among them. According to the Foreign Office, they were employees of international aid organizations who were met at the border crossing by a team from the Cairo embassy. For the first time on Wednesday, injured Palestinians were taken to Egyptian hospitals for treatment.
According to the New York Times, around 600 more foreigners are expected to leave for Egypt via Rafah today. These include 400 Americans as well as people from Switzerland, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, Croatia, Mexico, South Korea and other countries.
As a result of the devastating Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th, Israel is massively attacking targets in the Gaza Strip and has sealed off the densely populated coastal strip. The United Nations speaks of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
