11/12/2023 4:01 pm (current 11/12/2023 4:01 pm)
Passports were checked upon departure ©APA/AFP
Hundreds of foreigners and Palestinians have once again left the Gaza Strip with second passports. More than 800 of them crossed the Rafah border into Egypt, a checkpoint spokesman on the Palestinian side said on Sunday. This means that around 2,700 foreigners and Palestinians with second passports have left the isolated coastal area since the border reopened around a week and a half ago.
An Egyptian Red Crescent representative initially said only on Sunday that 500 of them had arrived on the Egyptian side of the border. Most come from Russia and Ukraine. Furthermore, they are Egyptians originally from the Palestinian territories.
Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations announced that 70 people with Russian passports left via Rafah on Sunday alone. According to previous information, up to 600 people with Russian citizenship could be in the Gaza Strip, the TASS agency reported.
Egyptian state television station Al-Qahera News reported that around 500 people who left the country came from around 15 countries, including Germany, the US, China and France. They waited in the border crossing hall for exit formalities to be completed so they could continue their journey with the support of their embassies.
Poland announced that the first of its citizens had left the Gaza Strip. “The first Polish citizens remaining in the Gaza Strip have crossed the Rafah border and are on the Egyptian side. The process has begun,” said Jacek Siewiera, head of Poland’s National Security Office, on X (formerly Twitter). The Air Force is ready to expel Polish citizens. Siewiera told Portal news agency there were 18 citizens, including minors. He expected more to be added throughout the day.
Following Hamas’ radical Islamist attack on Israel on October 7, the Israeli military has isolated the Gaza Strip and continually attacks targets there.