Foreign nationals said they were stuck at Rafah border after evacuations were suspended. It was suspended after an Israeli strike on Friday (November 3) on an ambulance in Gaza being used to transport injured people, Egyptian official sources said.
FCDO has begun putting names of British citizens on to list of those allowed to leave Gaza via Rafah crossing to EgyptBritish citizens trapped in Gaza are facing the 'excruciating' prospect of leaving without their family members after the Foreign Office left those without UK passports off the safe passage list, a group representing them has said.
It did not reopen today, despite UK hopes that the situation could be resolved to allow more Britons to escape.The impasse in delicate diplomatic relations between Egypt, Israel and Hamas means UK nationals waiting by the border checkpoint have been stranded for a second day. One person facing the difficult prospect of leaving family members behind said those with Palestinian heritage were being treated like 'second-class citizens'.
'It is even more difficult to understand when we know of somebody who lives in the US who has managed to get 19 family members evacuated even though not even one of them has an American passport. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said during a Sunday media round that the UK Government was 'hopeful that the crossing will reopen again today' and that additional British citizens would be able to leave Gaza.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was 'disappointed that the Rafah crossing remains temporarily closed today'.
Palestinians look for survivors of the Israeli bombardment in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, on November 5, 2023 Around 100 UK nationals have used the Rafah crossing to leave the besieged enclave since it opened to foreign nationals last week. Ms Wandawi, an English language teacher, and a group of 12 family members - 10 of whom are British nationals - attempted to cross the border into Egypt on Wednesday, but were told their names were not on the list.
A picture taken from Sderot along the border with the Gaza Strip early on November 5, 2023, shows smoke and fire rising over the Palestinian enclave during an Israeli strikeIn a statement, the FCDO said: 'This continues to be a complex and challenging situation and we are using all diplomatic channels to press for the crossing to reopen in co-ordination with our international partners.
The fighting in the Israel-Hamas war has continued into a fifth week, with the violence having been ignited by the Palestinian militant group's bloody raids that killed 1,400 people and saw about 240 people taken hostage. The Hamas-run health ministry said more than 9,700 Palestinians have been killed in the territory in nearly a month of war, a number likely to rise as Israeli troops advance into dense, urban neighbourhoods.
The Metropolitan Police said a total of 29 people were arrested in London, including for inciting racial hatred, other racially motivated crimes, violence and assaulting a police officer. Elizabeth El-Nakla and her husband Maged – the parents of Mr Yousaf's wife Nadia - were trapped when Israel laid siege to the territory following the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.But the SNP leader confirmed they were among an almost 100-strong group permitted to enter Egypt through the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza.
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