'Border Opened' Over 500 Foreign Passport Holders in Gaza Strip Head to Egypt via Rafah After 25 Days

Foreign Passport Holders and Seriously Injured Patients Transported Through Qatar Mediation

Foreign passport holders who were in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, have begun crossing into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing.

On the 1st (local time), residents of the Gaza Strip were waiting at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. In negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt, Israel, and Hamas agreed to allow the movement of foreign nationals and critically injured patients out of the Gaza Strip.
[Photo by Yonhap/AFP]

According to foreign media including AP and AFP on the 1st (local time), foreign passport holders in the Gaza Strip started moving to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, known as the "lifeline."

Relief supply vehicles had been entering the Gaza Strip through the checkpoint passage. However, this is the first time in 25 days since the outbreak of the war between Hamas, the Palestinian armed faction governing the Gaza Strip, and Israel on the 7th of last month that people have exited.

On this day, multiple sources reported that Egypt began allowing dozens of Palestinian residents holding foreign passports to enter the country through the Rafah crossing. Although the exact number has not yet been confirmed, live-streamed videos from the scene showed a large crowd gathering at the Palestinian side terminal.

AFP expected about 400 foreigners and dual nationals, as well as approximately 90 patients, to exit the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on this day, while Sputnik News reported that around 500 people could depart in total.

A local diplomatic source said, "About 500 people are expected to be able to leave the Gaza Strip today." However, it is still observed that ordinary Palestinian residents without foreign nationality are not permitted to exit to Egypt.

On the 1st (local time), a woman is waiting for the Rafah border checkpoint to open in the southern Gaza Strip. On this day, foreign media reported that Egypt, Israel, and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, agreed on the movement of foreign nationals and critically ill patients out of the Gaza Strip.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Rafah crossing is the only passage from the Gaza Strip to Egypt that is not controlled by Israel.

The day before, Egypt's state-run media Al Kahira News reported that Egyptian authorities planned to open the Rafah border crossing for the treatment of seriously injured patients.

A hospital official in El Arish, Egypt, located 45 km from Rafah, said, "A medical team will go to the checkpoint tomorrow to examine patients coming from the Gaza Strip," and added, "They will decide which hospital to transfer the patients to." The official further explained that a 1,300㎡ field hospital will be established in Sheikh Zuwaid village in the northern Sinai Peninsula, about 15 km from Rafah, to accommodate Palestinian injured patients.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stated in response to calls to allow Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip to enter, "We will protect our territory and sovereignty at any cost."

Since the outbreak of the war, Israel, which has blockaded the Gaza Strip, announced on the 18th of last month, "In response to U.S. President Joe Biden's request, we will not obstruct humanitarian aid supplies through Egypt."

Following this, more than 200 relief trucks have been brought into the Gaza Strip since the 20th of last month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.