Nov. 2 (UPI) — Hundreds more civilians, including about 400 Americans and hundreds of other foreigners, were permitted to leave Gaza Thursday as a tightly controlled evacuation from the war-torn territory entered its second day.
Gaza’s border authority released a list of 600 foreign passport holders and a host of dual national Palestinians from 14 countries, including Mexico, South Korea, Azerbaijan and Italy, who were allowed to leave Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, reports said.
The evacuation comes several days after Israel sent tanks into Gaza, raising fears of a higher civilian death toll in the days ahead.
On Wednesday, at least 300 foreign nationals and 80 critically injured Palestinians crossed into Egypt as part of the first major departure from the Palestinian territory since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7, which locked down Gaza’s border for more than three weeks, trapping thousands amid a massive bombardment.
A number of Americans were part of the initial group to depart Gaza, the White House confirmed Wednesday, while the State Department said it had reached out to at least 1,000 families of Americans still trapped in the territory with little food, water, and medical supplies as the Israeli military continued its all-out siege on Hamas.
Before now, only aid trucks had been permitted to use the crossing to bring humanitarian supplies into Gaza from Egypt.
Ambulances went through the crossing for the first time this week to bring patients to a newly constructed field hospital about six miles inside Egypt.
Hundreds more people, mainly families with children, were gathered with their belongings at the crossing waiting to be allowed to cross.
Elsewhere, more than 200 Israeli hostages were still being held by Hamas, while more than 9,000 civilians have been killed and at least another 1 million displaced since hostilities began, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
