Evacuations from Gaza to Egypt suspended on Friday

Cairo: Evacuations from the Gaza Strip into Egypt for foreign passport holders and for Palestinians needing urgent medical treatment were suspended on Friday, three Egyptian security sources and a Palestinian official said.

The Palestinian official and an Egyptian medical source said the suspension was due to problems bringing medical evacuees to the Rafah border crossing from inside Gaza.

Limited evacuations from Gaza to Egypt began on Nov. 1 and were paused twice in the past week due to bombardments that aid staff said hit or targeted medical convoys.

The Egyptian sources said several dozen foreign passport holders and their dependents as well as a small number of medical evacuees had entered Egypt on Friday before crossings were suspended.

On other days, several hundred foreign passport holders, dual nationals and dependents had been crossing.

Early on Friday, Gaza border authorities published a list of those newly authorised to cross, including groups from Canada, Romania, Russia, Brazil and Poland.