2023-11-04 01:49:03
For weeks, the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt, became the only hope for civilians struggling to leave the Gaza Strip, the current scene of the war between Israel and the Palestinian militia Hamas and a humanitarian crisis. without precedents. Almost a month after the start of the escalation, hundreds of foreigners and Palestinians with dual nationality fulfilled their desire to leave the enclave, a path that thousands more still hope to follow.
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The Gaza Strip, a narrow territory where 2.4 million people live, faces intense bombings and ground incursions by the forces of the Jewish country, which have been progressively expanding their offensive since the Hamas terrorists launched a bloody surprise attack against the territory. Israeli attack on October 7 that left 1,400 dead. In contrast, the Israeli offensive in Gaza has claimed the lives of almost 8,800 people, including 3,648 children.
For the first time since the start of the war, the border point between Gaza and Egypt was opened on Wednesday to allow the evacuation of 76 wounded and 335 people with foreign passports, many of them officials of NGOs operating in the territory.
On the second day of opening, about 600 people gathered around the crossing yesterday at dawn. A spokesman for the Palestinian side of the crossing said around 100 people had been able to leave yesterday. The United States later detailed that among these latest evacuees were 74 American citizens and their family members.
Several people wait at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on November 1, 2023. (Photo: AFP)
Egypt reported yesterday that, in total, it will help evacuate 7,000 people from more than 60 countries in the Gaza Strip, although it did not specify the timing of the exit plan.
Among the foreigners in the enclave there are two Peruvian families that make a total of 7 people. Of them, four are of Peruvian nationality: a 6-year-old girl, Feker El Alabi from Chimbotana and the sisters Lucía and Mónica Llerena Vargas, both nuns.
The Peruvian ambassador in Egypt, José Guillermo Betancourt, confirmed yesterday to El Comercio that the number of Peruvians in Gaza has not changed and that there is still no news about their departure from the enclave.
“We are working for their earliest evacuation from Gaza to Egypt. The two religious sisters have decided to remain in Gaza, in a very admirable act and of great self-sacrifice and vocation,” she stated.
difficult path
Achieving exit from the Gaza Strip is not easy. After several false alarms, those who were evacuated had to find ways to move to the border and wait in long lines.
“Without fuel, some arrived on foot, others by donkey cart, dragging all the luggage they could. Then they huddled together to wait, the mood tense, if they were moving toward relief,” says “The New York Times.”
Submission and verification of documents was also not easy. Diplomatic sources familiar with the evacuation process explained to the Efe agency that the evacuation goes through a strict bureaucratic procedure that requires the issuance of safe conduct, temporary visas, an alert that is given at the last moment and the requirement that all those who arrive in Egyptian territory and leave the country within 72 hours.
Departing civilians show their documents as Palestinian dual nationals and foreigners prepare to cross the Rafah border point. (Photo: AFP)
Additionally, there is a long list of names that determined whether someone could cross.
“With the approved papers, you have to wait in Cairo for the Egyptian authorities to give final approval for the convoy to leave the city for Rafah, which is about 7 hours of travel. We are aware of several checkpoints on the route where approved documents and approval for departure from the authorities are required,” the source told EFE.
Once they have formally entered Egyptian territory, the diplomatic missions are in charge of resolving the departure of these people from the country, for which they have a period of 72 hours.
Relief when leaving
Ala Al Husseini, 61, a dual Austrian-Palestinian citizen who evacuated on Wednesday, was among those who expressed gratitude for being able to leave.
In Gaza, “you feel that the lives of human beings do not have that much value,” said the man quoted by “The New York Times.”
Several people enter the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip before crossing into Egypt. (Photo: AFP)
“Getting to the Rafah crossing was the most dangerous trip of my entire life (…) You could be collateral damage at any moment,” he added later in communication with that medium.
Hanín Okal, a Palestinian mother with American nationality who hoped to leave with her three young children, told Efe: “I cannot describe our feeling of relief at being evacuated safely, but we are sad about what is happening in Gaza, the war continues. , there is no ceasefire and we leave our family behind.”
In Gaza “there is a lack of food, water and electricity, there is no internet or a safe place and we do not know when all this will end,” he added.
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