UN Says Gaza Evacuation Deal For Foreigners Blocked For Two Days
(Bloomberg) -- The United Nations said no foreigners, dual-nationals or injured Palestinians were able to leave the Gaza Strip over the weekend and its unclear whether they'll be able to anytime soon.
The development came after Hamas accused Israel of endangering a deal that allowed some to get out of the besieged territory.
“This is reportedly due to the failure of Hamas, Israel and Egypt to reach an agreement regarding the safe evacuation of patients from northern Gaza,” the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Monday in a daily bulletin on Gaza.
The UN didn't say if some people might be able to leave on Monday.
Hundreds of citizens of the US, UK and other countries began leaving Gaza on Nov. 1 through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, marking the first time people trapped inside the coastal strip were able to escape since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct. 7.
Following Hamas's incursion of southern Israel, which killed 1,400 people, the Israeli military has bombarded Gaza and sent in ground troops. More than 9,700 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Rafah is in the south of Gaza. Israel has been urging civilians to evacuate to that part of the territory as it concentrates its forces in the north around Gaza City. Israeli forces say they've encircled the city and effectively cut off the south of Gaza from the north.
Hamas has accused Israel of targeting ambulances and blocking Palestinians wounded in Israeli airstrikes from seeking treatment in Egypt. On Saturday, the Israeli military Saturday claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on an ambulance near a hospital but said it was being used to ferry Hamas fighters — a claim the health ministry in Gaza called “baseless.”
Hamas is backed by Iran and designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union.
The arrangement between Israel, Egypt and Hamas allowing injured civilians as well as foreigners and Palestinians with foreign passports to leave Gaza was a rare instance of diplomatic progress since the conflict started. More than 1,100 people reportedly passed through the Rafah crossing to Egypt Nov. 2 and 3, the UN said.
Hamas originally put forward a list of names for evacuation to Egypt that included many of its fighters, a US official said. After the US pushed back, the militant group withdrew those names, the official said.
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