Hundreds of foreign passport-holders and dozens of other seriously wounded Palestinians desperate to escape Israel\u2019s bombardment of Gaza crowded around the black metal gate on the Egyptian border Wednesday, hoping to pass through the enclave\u2019s only portal to the outside world for the first time since the war began. Restless children pressed their faces against the wire mesh as families with backpacks and carry-on suitcases pushed and jostled. The air was thick with apprehension. Everyone was waiting for the Hamas authorities to call their names over the scratchy loudspeaker. Each name represented another individual with a chance to escape the punishing war that has killed over 8,800 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and forever altered the enclave they had called home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are relying on God and hoping that we get out,\u201d said Rania Hussein, a Jordanian resident of Gaza, as she breathlessly described the horrors she had fled \u2013 entire Palestinian neighbourhoods razed and families crushed to death since Oct. 7, when Hamas mounted its unprecedented attack on Israel. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for what had happened, we wouldn\u2019t leave Gaza,\u201d she said. After three weeks of repeatedly dashed hopes and torturous negotiations between Egypt, Israel and Gaza\u2019s Hamas rulers, the first group of Palestinians left the besieged strip through the Rafah crossing, swarmed by TV cameras. Squeezing through the border gates were 335 foreign passport-holders, mostly Palestinian dual nationals but also some foreigners, 76 critically wounded patients bound for Egyptian hospitals and some staffers from aid organisations, including Doctors Without Borders, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.<\/p>\n
The breakthrough for the hundreds of Palestinians traveling by foot and in ambulances into the Sinai peninsula left many others holding their breath. Confusion reigned as hundreds of people who had braved Israeli air raids to flock to the Egyptian border found themselves stranded after the roll-call ended. There are thousands of foreign passport holders stuck in the Gaza Strip, including an estimated 400 Americans who want out. A widely shared Google spreadsheet outlining just a few hundred names of those cleared for departure Wednesday raised even more questions. The list included citizens from a handful of European countries as well as Australia, Japan and Indonesia. There were no Americans or Canadians, but the U.S. State Department later confirmed that a few U.S. citizens had managed to cross.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one understands how you get on this list or why you\u2019re not on this list,\u201d said Hammam al-Yazji, a Palestinian businessman trying to get out of Gaza with his 4-year-old American son. Phone and internet connections were down early Wednesday across the strip, adding to the frustration. \u201cWe came here today to the Egyptian borders hoping to leave Gaza, but our Canadian Embassy didn\u2019t contact due to the bad network,\u201d said Asil Shurab, a Canadian citizen. Dr. Hamdan Abu Speitan, a 76-year-old Palestinian American physician from Syracuse, said he had no idea what to expect. \u201cAll I can do is wait and pray,\u201d he said. The terms of the deal between Israel, Egypt and Hamas \u2013 reached with the help of Qatar and the United States \u2013 remained shrouded in secrecy as diplomats promised more foreign passport-holders would be able to cross Rafah in the coming days.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect exits of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to continue over the next several days,\u201d State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Wednesday. It still was not clear how long the departures of foreign nationals would go on, which countries\u2019 citizens would depart when and how that order would be decided. None of the roughly 240 hostages believed to be held by Hamas were released. Most are Israeli citizens, but roughly half hold foreign passports, according to Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry. For some, the past weeks of false starts and thwarted plans did not instil much confidence. \u201cWe have little hope,\u201d Shurab said, \u201cto leave and save our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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