Hamas Govt Suspends Evacuation of Foreigners to Egypt

Rafah, the border crossing into Gaza that Egypt had promised to open on Friday, is the only crossing into the blockaded Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel. MOHAMMED ABED / AFP
Rafah, the border crossing into Gaza that Egypt had promised to open on Friday, is the only crossing into the blockaded Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel. MOHAMMED ABED / AFP
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Hamas Govt Suspends Evacuation of Foreigners to Egypt

Rafah, the border crossing into Gaza that Egypt had promised to open on Friday, is the only crossing into the blockaded Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel. MOHAMMED ABED / AFP
Rafah, the border crossing into Gaza that Egypt had promised to open on Friday, is the only crossing into the blockaded Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel. MOHAMMED ABED / AFP

Gaza's Hamas government suspended the evacuation of foreign passport holders to Egypt Saturday after Israel refused to allow some wounded Palestinians to be evacuated to Egyptian hospitals, a border official said.

"No foreign passport holder will be able to leave the Gaza Strip until wounded people who need to be evacuated from hospitals in north Gaza are transported through the Rafah crossing" to Egypt, the official said on condition of anonymity.

An Egyptian security source confirmed to AFP that "no wounded person or holder of a foreign passport arrived at the Egyptian terminal" of Rafah on Saturday.

He said the evacuation was suspended "after the bombing of ambulances transporting injured people who were on their way to the Egyptian terminal".

On Friday, the Israeli army announced it had struck an ambulance outside Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza's largest, saying it was "used by a Hamas terrorist cell".

At least 15 people were killed and 60 wounded in the strike, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

Israel launched a war against Hamas in Gaza following the October 7 attacks which claimed 1,400 lives -- mostly civilians -- according to Israel.

The Hamas-run health ministry says air, land and sea attacks on Gaza have killed nearly 9,500 Palestinians.



UNRWA Says Israel Still Preventing Aid from Reaching Northern Gaza

FILE PHOTO: A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA, following an Israeli raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 12, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA, following an Israeli raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 12, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
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UNRWA Says Israel Still Preventing Aid from Reaching Northern Gaza

FILE PHOTO: A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA, following an Israeli raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 12, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA, following an Israeli raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 12, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo

Israeli authorities are still preventing humanitarian missions from reaching areas of northern Gaza with critical supplies including medicine and food for people under siege, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said on Monday.

Hospitals have been hit and are without power while injured people are left without care, Philippe Lazzarini said on X, Reuters reported.

"@UNRWA remaining shelters are so overcrowded, some displaced people are now forced to live in the toilets. According to reports, people attempting to flee are getting killed, their bodies left on the street. Missions to rescue people from under the rubble are also being denied," he added.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the UNRWA statement.

Israel says it is getting large quantities of humanitarian supplies into Gaza with land deliveries, including one on Monday morning, and airdrops. It also says it has facilitated the evacuation of patients from the Kamal Adwan Hospital.

"Humanitarian agencies including @UNRWA must get access to north Gaza. Denying & weaponizing humanitarian assistance to achieve military purposes is a sign of how low the moral compass is," Lazzarini said.

He said assistance must reach everyone in need in the Palestinian enclave, including children and Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

"A ceasefire is the beginning of putting an end to this endless nightmare," he added.

Israel began a wide military offensive in northern Gaza, especially inside Jabalia, the largest of the enclave's eight historic camps, over two weeks ago, with the declared aim of preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping.