Dozens of dual nationals, foreigners and wounded Palestinians were evacuated from Gaza to Egypt via the Rafah crossing point this Wednesday, November 1. These are the first evacuations since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.
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“ At 4:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. UT), 76 injured Palestinians aboard ambulances and 335 people holding foreign passports aboard six buses had crossed » the Rafah border post, reports AFP quoting an Egyptian official. Among them were several Americans, announced United States President Joe Biden, who said “ plan other departures in the coming days “. According to the Quai d’Orsay, five French people were able to leave the Gaza Strip, as were four Italians, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reported on X (formerly Twitter). “ I just spoke to the first four Italians to come out of the gang Gaza. They are tired, but in good health, they are assisted by the Italian consul in Cairo. We continue to work to get everyone else out », declared the minister.
These evacuations are a first since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7. And “ the Rafah terminal will be open again on Thursday to allow the passage of more foreigners and dual nationals », Indicated a source within the Egyptian security services to AFP. Because some were not able to flee the war this Wednesday. This is particularly the case of Yaser, who lives in Khan Younés, in the south of the Gaza Strip, with his wife and four children. “ We couldn’t get out of Gaza, but we’re going to try again this Thursday. Today there were too many people and our embassy told us to come back », he testifies at the microphone of Julien Chavanne, from RFI’s international service. Like him, hundreds of foreigners will try their luck again.
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“We haven’t even emptied a single section of the hospital »
This Wednesday was also marked by the evacuation of dozens of injured people by ambulance. At midday, Egyptian news channels broadcast the arrival of several Palestinian ambulances on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing. Each carried an injured person and an attendant. Egyptian ambulances then crossed the Rafah crossing towards Gaza to transport the wounded, given the lack of means and fuel on the Palestinian side.
According to the Egyptians, nearly 80 patients arrived this Wednesday and are being treated at al-Arich hospital, around fifty kilometers from the border. A largely insufficient figure, according to a first aid worker in the Gaza Strip. “ Tens of thousands of injured people are hospitalized. We’re only talking about eighty-one wounded evacuated, which means we haven’t even emptied a single section of the hospital », he testifies on the microphone of MCD correspondent in Gaza, Wassim Abouzeid. A total of 400 hospital beds are reserved for Palestinian patients at al Arich, Sheikh Zoweid and Bir al Abd hospitals. The army is also building a field hospital near the border. Critically injured or sick Palestinians will be transferred to hospitals in the Suez Canal cities or Cairo, the Health Ministry announced.
“We call on the whole world to open the Rafah crossing to deliver medical aid as well as diesel and gasoline needed for hospitals, ambulances and transport of the injured,” implores the rescuer. Because even if the humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip is constantly increasing, it remains largely insufficient. And according to Egyptian Red Crescent sources, the convoys proposed each day are far superior to what actually arrives in Gaza in number and load, reports our correspondent in Cairo, Alexandre Buccianti.
A list is sent to UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees) which is transmitted to Israel which then gives the green light to a generally lower number of trucks. The latter must then go to Nitzana, the Israeli crossing point 50 km south of Rafah, to be searched. Here, part of the cargo is refused and unloaded, according to the Egyptians. As a result, trucks that can transport 30 tons are found with a load of only a dozen tons. According to Palestinian sources, more than 230 trucks arrived in Gaza and delivered nearly 2,500 tons of humanitarian aid. Nearly 6,000 tonnes are still waiting on the Egyptian side.
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