Media: foreign residents of the Gaza Strip were not allowed into Egypt through the Rafah checkpoint

The Egyptian authorities refused to allow residents of the Gaza Strip with foreign citizenship, including Americans, into their territory through the Rafah checkpoint on the border with the Palestinian enclave. reports local publication Cairo 24.

“Foreign citizens waited for several hours in front of the checkpoint without receiving a response from the Egyptian authorities in order to return to where they came from,” the publication writes, citing eyewitnesses.

According to Cairo 24, Egypt’s position is that the crossing is not used solely for the passage of foreigners from the Gaza Strip, they want it to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians living in the region.

Israel previously ordered Gazan’s 1.1 million residents to leave their homes and evacuate in any direction as its army prepared to launch a ground operation in the enclave, intending to eliminate the Palestinian group Hamas. Prior to this, Israel initiated a blockade of the Palestinian enclave, cutting off people’s electricity, water, and complicating the supply of humanitarian aid. The Gaza Strip itself is subject to regular and destructive aerial bombing by the Israeli army. Some international organizations, including the UN, have already warned that the region is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe and have called for a truce. However, both Israel itself and its main ally, the United States, are opposed to the truce.

On October 7, Hamas militants invaded Israel, accusing its authorities of oppression and violations of the rights of Palestinians. The militants attacked the border units of the Israeli army and entered populated areas, taking military and civilian hostages. The Israel Defense Forces responded by launching Operation Iron Swords, initiating large-scale bombing of the Gaza Strip. The total number of deaths during the clashes exceeded 3,000 people.