A new group of 100 Palestinians with foreign passports arrived at the Rafah border crossing this Thursday to leave the Gaza Strip for Egypt, a country expected to receive thousands of refugees in the coming days as a result of Israeli bombing.
According to the spokesman for the administration of the Palestinian part of the site, Wael Abou Mohssen, two buses with a total of “100 people of foreign nationality” crossed the border crossing into Egypt on Thursday morning, but 400 people are registered as crossing the border. cross. today the same route, including 60 wounded during the war.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry also said that the exact number of people who will be allowed to enter Egyptian territory is unknown, but estimates that this could reach 7,000 people, from 60 nationalities, i.e. virtually all Palestinians with foreign passports and citizens. from other countries.
Egyptian media explained this Thursday that those arriving at Rafah, the only exit from Gaza not blocked by Israel, must complete the procedures to enter Egyptian territory, and then be repatriated to the countries of their nationality.
This is a complicated process through which Egypt – which has agreed to open the border crossing with Israel, mediated by the United States and Qatar – wants to guarantee that Palestinians with dual nationalities or foreigners will leave its territory within days.
Wednesday marked the first time since the start of the conflict between the Islamist group Hamas and Israel on October 7 that the border crossing was opened for this purpose. So far, Rafah has only been used to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.
Source: DN
