Hundreds of foreign passport holders leave Gaza for Egypt

Palestinian dual nationals among those leaving through the Rafah crossing, the only one from Gaza not on the border with Israel.

Palestinians with foreign passports wait for permission to leave Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip — Palestinians with foreign passports wait for permission to leave Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on November 7, 2023. [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]

Hundreds of foreign passport holders, including Palestinian dual nationals, have left Gaza via the Rafah border crossing to Egypt.

At least 320 foreign nationals entered Egypt from Gaza on Tuesday after the Rafah crossing was closed over the weekend, the Reuters news agency reported, citing Egyptian sources.

Rafah was closed on Saturday and Sunday after an Israeli attack on an ambulance that was heading there. It reopened on Monday with a limited number of people passing through, according to Reuters.

Of those who crossed over, only four were injured Palestinians who would receive treatment in Egypt, a medical source told the news agency.

The United States has helped more than 400 of its citizens, lawful permanent residents and other eligible people leave Gaza since the war began on October 7, a Department of State spokesperson said. A group of Canadian nationals and their dependents also left Gaza on Tuesday.

More than 100 French nationals and their dependents have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip, France’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said. Meanwhile, 100 Egyptians have passed through Rafah, an Egyptian security source said, while Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said 262 Jordanians have been evacuated of the 569 stuck in Gaza.