Egyptian medics help Palestinian patient who crossed border | Photo: AFP
The Hamas terrorist group hid some of its members in ambulances transporting wounded people from the Gaza Strip to the Rafah crossing, prompting Egypt to close the crossing again, including to foreigners authorized to use it.
As a result, the 34 people in Gaza awaiting repatriation to Brazil may face another delay. They were no longer included in the sixth wave of exit permits this Wednesday morning (8), which included beneficiaries from Ukraine (228 citizens), the Philippines (107), the United States (100), Germany (75) and Romania (51 ) and Canada (40).
The incident, according to experts in Tel Aviv and Cairo, angered both governments, which have been coordinating efforts to evacuate those seriously injured in Israel’s campaign against Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and launched a war against the Jewish state a month ago .
On Saturday (4), Egypt had already suspended departures after Israel attacked an ambulance on the grounds that it was transporting terrorists. Hamas denies this and says 15 civilians were killed in the operation. In any case, a new agreement was reached and from Monday (6) the ambulances were accompanied by the Red Crescent/Red Cross in the region.
On Tuesday (7th) lists of permits for foreigners were published again. This Wednesday, it is still unclear when the presence of Hamas infiltrators was noticed among the injured, but the atmosphere deteriorated again, in what the US State Department described as a “security incident.”
Israel’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zohar Zonshine, released a note on Wednesday afternoon in which he alluded to the issue without mentioning the incident in detail. “Hamas is cynically exploiting foreign civilians in the midst of war and has prevented foreigners from doing so,” he said.
The statement was intended to respond to criticism from the left that the country was retaliation against Brazil for its behavior at the head of the UN Security Council in October, which sought consensus solutions that displeased Israel.
“The State of Israel is making efforts to evacuate all foreigners from 20 different countries and increase the quota to compensate for the delay caused by Hamas,” he said. Although his report lacks detail, it is consistent with that of the people of the region.
Everything indicates that the lockdown could end this Thursday (9). In any case, the announcement that Brazil was removed from the list was particularly painful for the group under Itamaraty’s protection, such as the merchant Hasan Rabee (30) from São Paulo, who posted an optimistic message on Instagram the day before in which he predicted his departure this Wednesday.
It was apparently based on the promise that Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen made to his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira on Friday (3). The problem, however, was the closure of the border on Saturday.
In total, counting this Wednesday’s announcement, around 4,100 people have already received these passports, but not Brazilians.
The fact is that the approvals are complex, they go through four countries with the final vote of Egypt, and Brazil is not exactly a major regional player. Given the deadline mentioned by Cohen, it can be speculated that the solution in the Brazilian case will be found at the end of this week when the situation returns to normal.
The Brazilian refugees live in two groups, one of 18 in Rafah and the other of 16 in Khan Yunis, 10 km away. They report everyday difficulties in life and the Israeli bombing of the cities continues constantly.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian embassy in Cairo is preparing to receive the refugees, who will receive medical care before their return flight in a VC2, the presidential transport version of the Embraer190. The plane is in Cairo.
So far during the crisis, 1,410 Brazilians and three Bolivians have been repatriated from Israel, in addition to 32 Brazilians from the West Bank, the other half of the Palestinian state that never fully emerged after the 1993 Oslo Accords. In 2007, Hamas captured Gaza, deepening divisions among the region’s Arabs.
(Igor Gielow / Folhapress)
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