First evacuees exit Gaza as refugee camp struck again

RAFAH: At least 320 foreign passport holders and some injured Gazans left the

Palestinian enclave

through the

Rafah crossing

into Egypt on Wednesday, the first to benefit from a deal mediated by Qatar, three Egyptian sources and a Palestinian official said. Under the deal brokered between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, 81 wounded people and an initial list of 500 foreign passport holders were expected to be allowed out of the Gaza Strip in the coming days, sources in several nations said.

A diplomatic source briefed on Egyptian plans said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would be evacuated from Gaza over the course of about two weeks, adding that Al Arish airport would be made available to fly people out. Diplomats said initial foreign national evacuees were expected to travel by road to Cairo and fly out from there.
Hundreds more remain in Gaza, and talks on further evacuations were reportedly continuing among Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which has been mediating with Hamas. The US has said it is trying to get out 400 Americans with their families. Egypt has said it will not accept an influx of Palestinian refugees because of fears Israel will not allow them to return to Gaza.
The limited evacuations come more than three weeks into a total blockade of Gaza by Israel, which has been bombarding the densely populated enclave and has sent in ground troops in response to an attack by Hamas fighters on Israel on October 7.

Another blast shook Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, on Wednesday, a day after Palestinian health officials said an Israeli air strike killed about 50 people and wounded 150 there. The Gazan interior ministry said a second Israeli air strike in the same area had killed and injured more people. The Israeli military said the Tuesday attack had killed Ibrahim Biari, a Hamas commander it said was pivotal in organising the October 7 assault, as well as dozens of Hamas militants. A Hamas spokesman denied that he had been in the area.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was appalled by the high number of casualties in Jabalia and he urged all sides to respect the "laws of war and humanity". Israel says Hamas enmeshes its fighters in crowded residential districts and uses them as cover for command posts and weapons sites.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli hostages held in Gaza were subject to the same "death and destruction" that Palestinians have faced. The Hamas military wing has said that seven of the hostages, including three with foreign passports, were killed in Tuesday's air attack.
Israeli troops pushed to the outskirts of Gaza City. Internet and phone service was cut for several hours Wednesday, a replay of the temporary communications blackout when Israeli ground troops first advanced in large numbers into Gaza. Hospitals expressed increasing alarm that their generators running life-saving equipment were on the verge of going dead after weeks of Israel barring entry of fuel. Only hours of electricity remained at the largest hospital al-Shifa.