Updated 12.10 | Published 12.03
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80 Swedish citizens will be allowed to leave Gaza today.
Among them are Mohammed’s wife and children. But he does not know whether they have been reached by the message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
– I think they are on their way to Egypt now, but I don’t know, he says.
Around 500 Swedish citizens have applied to leave Gaza. Monday’s evacuation is the first by Swedes since the war began. Aftonbladet has obtained a list that is being circulated about which people will be allowed to leave via the Rafah crossing to Egypt today.
There are 79 Swedes on that list, among them Mohammed’s family. He is in Gothenburg and was informed on Sunday that his wife and children will be allowed to leave today. Since then, he has tried to contact them, but to no avail. He does not know if his family has been informed that they will be allowed to leave today.
– I try to call but I can’t get hold of them. I think they are on their way to Egypt now, but I don’t know, he says.
“I should feel happy”
The list includes both Swedish and Palestinian numbers. Only those with a Swedish area code are connected when Aftonbladet calls. One of those who answered is a man who, like Mohammed, is in Sweden, but has applied for permission for his sister and cousin to leave Gaza.
Late on Sunday evening, he was contacted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who told him that his sister and her children had received permission to evacuate on Monday. Their cousin is not on the list.
Nor can he get hold of the family members in Gaza.
– I have called a lot of times, but we still don’t know if they have come out. I will get them somehow, he says.
How did you feel when you found out they were on the list?
– I should feel happy, but I’m not happy. It is not possible to feel happy right now, he says and continues:
– This is not about my sister. I’m sorry for her, but she’ll be fine. It is about two million people being exterminated.
71-year-old Swede was hit in an airstrike
One of those on the list is Wallid, 71, from Gothenburg.
– We had the list sent to us by acquaintances, but dad has not heard anything from the Foreign Ministry, says son Yazan to Aftonbladet on Sunday evening.
The 71-year-old traveled to the area to visit family he hadn’t seen in years. But when the conflict escalated, he got stuck in Gaza. Since then he has been waiting to leave, says the son.
At the end of October, the father was injured in an airstrike in Tel al-Hawa.
– He was injured and it is a miracle that he is alive. But now we just want him to come home.
Now he is waiting at the border in Rafah, says the son.
– I was very happy when I saw my father’s name on the list, but it is still not safe. I cannot be happy until he is over the border and in Egypt.
“Lots of Swedes left”
Other people on the list contacted by Aftonbladet state that they have already gotten out of Gaza.
– We were in Gaza and got out of there three days after the war broke out, without Swedish help. But there are a lot of Swedes and children left, says one woman.
Will be taken to Cairo
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on Sunday evening that they are contacting the Swedes who are on the list via “sms, e-mail and telephone to ensure that they are reached by this information”.
When the Swedish citizens have crossed the border to Egypt, they are met by the staff from the Swedish Embassy and from the Norwegian Agency for Social Security, reports SR. The Swedes will then be driven to Cairo in chartered buses, where they will receive provisional Egyptian passports, according to the radio. They must then leave Egypt in the next 72 hours.
Billström: The ambition is to achieve this
Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M) tells SR that he has not yet received any information that the Swedes were able to leave Gaza today.
– We’ll see. The ambition is, of course, to achieve this, but as everyone knows, this is a war zone, he says, adding that “those who traveled to Gaza despite the Foreign Ministry’s advice bear a great responsibility”.
Aftonbladet has applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.