Egypt says to help evacuate 'about 7,000' Gaza foreign nationals
Egypt says to help evacuate 'about 7,000' Gaza foreign nationals
Egypt will help evacuate "about 7,000" foreigners and dual nationals from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
For the first time after weeks of deadly fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants since the Hamas attacks of October 7, the Rafah border crossing opened on Wednesday to let people out of Gaza.
In a meeting with foreign diplomats, assistant foreign minister Ismail Khairat said Egypt was preparing "to facilitate the reception and evacuation of foreign citizens from Gaza through the Rafah crossing".
Khairat said that involved "about 7,000" people, representing "more than 60" nationalities.
Biden voices support for humanitarian 'pause' in Israel-Hamas war
President Joe Biden, when responding to a heckler at a Minnesota campaign event Wednesday night, said he thinks there should be a humanitarian "pause" in the Israeli-Hamas war to get "prisoners" out of Gaza.
The 80-year-old Democrat was delivering remarks to some 200 supporters in the northern US state when a member of the audience shouted out to him.
"As a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire right now," she said, referring to the deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The president responded: "I think we need a pause. A pause means giving time to get the prisoners out."
Japanese minister to assure Palestinian counterparts on aid
Japan's foreign minister said on Thursday she would meet Palestinian counterparts during a visit to Israel and Jordan, and would communicate Japan's readiness to provide aid to the Palestinians.
The minister, Yoko Kamikawa, is also set to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen during her two-day trip from Friday, as the crisis in Gaza deepened after Israel conducted a strike on the Jabalia refugee camp and as foreigners, including Japanese nationals, leave.
"I hope to discuss how to respond to the grave humanitarian situation in the Gaza region as well as directly communicate Japan's readiness to continue providing aid," Kamikawa said of her meeting with her Palestinian counterparts.
Over 20,000 wounded people still in Gaza, says Doctors Without Borders
More than 20,000 wounded people are still trapped in the Gaza Strip, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), despite initial evacuations of foreign passport holders and badly injured Palestinians across the border to Egypt.
MSF noted the evacuations of "a number of severely injured" people in a statement on Wednesday, saying that its 22 international staff members in Gaza had also been among those who left the territory via the Rafah border crossing.
"However, there are still over 20,000 injured people in Gaza with limited access to healthcare due to the siege," it said.
MSF's Palestinian staff were still offering care in the territory, it added, and another international team was waiting to enter the territory to replace those who left "as soon as the situation allows".
Over 195 killed in Israel's strikes on Gaza refugee camp
More foreigners prepared to leave the besieged Gaza Strip today as its Hamas-run government said at least 195 Palestinians died in Israel's attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp, strikes that UN human rights officials said could be war crimes.
At least 320 foreign citizens on an initial list of 500, as well as dozens of severely injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt yesterday under a deal among Israel, Egypt, and Hamas.
Passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom, and the United States were in the evacuation.
Gaza border officials said the border crossing would reopen today so more foreigners could exit. A diplomatic source said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza over about two weeks.
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