Gaza authorities allowed about 600 more foreigners to leave through the Rafah checkpoint

The Gaza Border Guard published a list of almost 600 foreign nationals. They are allowed to leave the enclave on November 2 through the Rafah checkpoint, according to the department’s Facebook page (owned by Meta, which is banned and recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation).

The list included 400 Americans, as well as citizens of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Croatia, Chad, Switzerland, Sri Lanka and South Korea. They must report to the checkpoint at 7:00 local time (8:00 Moscow time).

There are no Russians on the lists. Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation reportedthat he provided the authorities of the countries involved with information about Russian citizens who would like to evacuate from the Gaza Strip. Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, noted that about 1,000 Russian citizens and members of their families became virtual hostages of the military blockade of Gaza.

On November 1, Egypt opened the Rafah checkpoint for the first time since the start of the war in the Middle East to evacuate the wounded and foreign citizens from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. Cairo agreed to let 81 wounded Palestinians and over 400 foreign citizens through.

Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded by launching Operation Iron Swords, with the military regularly carrying out strikes on the Gaza Strip. In addition, the Israeli authorities declared a complete blockade of Gaza. The first trucks with humanitarian aid began to pass through the Rafah checkpoint only on October 21.

According to the latest data, more than 10,000 people have died as a result of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Gaza reported more than 8,800 deaths in the Israeli strikes, and about 1,400 people were killed in Israel after the group’s attack.