Rafah crossing opens for first time since Oct 7 for movement of wounded, foreign passport holders

Scores of foreign passport holders trapped in Gaza started leaving the region on Wednesday as the Rafah crossing to Egypt opened for the first time since the October 7 Hamas attacks, AFP correspondents reported. Convoys of desperately needed aid have passed between Egypt and Gaza but no people have been allowed to cross. Some 400 foreigners and dual nationals along with some 90 sick and wounded were expected to leave on Wednesday.

View of Gaza's Rafah border crossing after Qatar mediated an agreement between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, in coordination with the US, to allow for the movement of foreign passport holders and some critically injured people out of besieged Gaza.#Gaza https://t.co/rW37TUSk4r

— Reuters (@Reuters) November 1, 2023

Earlier today, the border authority in Gaza said that Egypt has agreed to let dozens of severely wounded Palestinians inside the country for treatment. On Tuesday, AFP reported that a large number of ambulances were already present at the Rafah crossing. A medical official from the Egyptian city of El Arish said that healthcare workers would be deployed at the crossing to examine patients and determine which hospital they would be sent to. Apart from this, a field hospital will be built with an area of 1,300 square metres to treat the wounded Palestinians in the city of Sheikh Zuweid.