Israel-Hamas war – live: Rafah crossing opens with trapped foreign nationals set to leave Gaza
Up to 500 foreign passport holders will pass the Rafah border crossing from Gaza to Egypt after Qatar mediated an agreement between Cairo, Israel and Hamas in coordination with the US to allow for the movement of foreign passport holders and Palestinians severely injured in Gaza.
The country will also take in 81 wounded people from the besieged Gaza Strip and treat them in its hospitals, Gaza’s General Authority for Crossings and Borders told the New York Times.
It is not clear how long the Rafah border crossing will remain open for evacuation. Earlier, the Israeli military admitted to launching a wide-scale airstrike on the densely inhabited Jabalia refugee camp where potentially “dozens” of civilians have been killed.
During a briefing attended by The Independent, Israeli officials defended the attack and claimed the operation led to the killing of Ibrahim Biari, the commander of Hamas’s Central Jabalia Battalion. However, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem denied any senior commander was in the camp at the time of the strike.
At least 11 Israeli soldiers died in Gaza fighting yesterday, the biggest one-day loss for the IDF since the Hamas attack on 7 October.
Meanwhile, Gaza again plunged into a communication blackout today after two providers Paltel and Jawwal reported a “complete disruption” of services in the region.
