ISRAEL: On Thursday, more foreign residents in the Gaza Strip made preparations to depart, while the Hamas-led government reported that Israeli airstrikes in a densely populated area on the outskirts of Gaza City had resulted in the deaths of at least 195 Palestinians, including Hamas commanders. On Wednesday, as part of an agreement involving Israel, Egypt, and Hamas, approximately 320 foreign citizens from an initial list of 500, along with numerous severely injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt.
Passport holders from Austria, Australia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom, and the United States were evacuated from Gaza. Gaza officials announced the reopening of the Rafah border crossing on Thursday to facilitate the departure of approximately 7,500 foreign passport holders over a period of around two weeks.
Video footage depicted the opening of the gate on the Palestinian side of the border on Wednesday morning, allowing people to start crossing into Egypt for the first time since the conflict began. While convoys of essential humanitarian aid had previously moved between Egypt and Gaza, the Rafah crossing had remained closed to the passage of individuals up until now.
The zone surrounding the terminal for the Rafah border crossing was targeted during Israeli airstrikes following the attacks by Hamas. Israeli authorities claim that these attacks resulted in approximately 1,400 casualties, with the majority being civilians. Additionally, around 240 people were reportedly taken hostage.
Israel conducted a military operation against Hamas militants, involving airstrikes and naval and ground attacks, following an incursion by Hamas into southern Israel on October 7. According to Israel, this operation was in response to Hamas’s actions, which resulted in casualties, including civilian deaths and hostages.
The Gaza health ministry has reported that Israeli strikes since October 7 have resulted in the deaths of at least 8,796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children. Israel stated that its airstrikes on Tuesday and Wednesday targeted and killed two Hamas military leaders in Jabalia, an area of Gaza that originally served as a refugee camp established in 1948. According to Israel, they struck areas with command centres and other “terror infrastructure under, around, and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians.”
The Gaza Health Ministry, under the control of Hamas, reports that over 15,000 people have been injured in retaliatory Israeli strikes, which it claims have killed over 8,500 people; two-thirds of them are women and children. Some of these victims are being transported to Egyptian hospitals for medical attention.
In the midst of these events, there was another internet blackout in Gaza on Wednesday, and telecommunications services were gradually being restored. A 48-hour communications blackout occurred in Gaza when Israel announced an expansion of its ground operation last week. Telecommunications services were restored on Monday, before the most recent blackout.
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