Latest Developments:
- Gaza-Egypt border opens to foreigners at Rafah for the first time Wednesday since the start of Israel-Hamas war.
- Opening of Rafah crossing part of a deal between Israel, Hamas and Egypt brokered by Qatar.
- First group of foreign passport holders departed besieged Gaza Strip Wednesday.
- First group of injured Palestinians were also taken into Egypt for medical treatment under deal.
- Internet and phone networks are down across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Palestinian telecommunications agency says.
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to return to region Friday.
The first group of foreign nationals who have been trapped in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas began leaving the besieged territory for Egypt on Wednesday.
The reopening of the Rafah border crossing to allow foreign passport holders to leave was part of a Qatari-brokered deal between Israel, Egypt and Hamas. At least 400 foreign nationals will be allowed to cross into Egypt.
In a message on the social media platform X, President Joe Biden credited U.S. leadership with making the evacuation happen. He said Washington also expects American citizens to exit Wednesday, and more in the coming days.
In addition to the foreign nationals, about 81 injured Palestinians were taken by ambulance from Gaza to receive treatment in Egyptian hospitals. The patients are the first known Palestinians allowed out of Gaza since the war began following Hamas’ deadly October 7 terror attack on Israel that killed 1,400 people.
U.N. Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland welcomed the medical evacuations as “an important step in the right direction, which we need to build on.”
The first departures of foreign nationals and the medical evacuations come as Gaza is experiencing a total communications blackout for a second time since Friday, according to service provider Paltel (Palestine Telecommunications Company).
The company said the outage was “due to international routes that were previously reconnected being cut off again.” Outages continued into Wednesday.
The latest communications disruption occurred hours after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s largest Palestinian refugee camp that left scores dead and wounded.
An Israeli army spokesman confirmed Tuesday’s airstrike on Jabaliya camp to CNN, saying “a very senior Hamas commander” was in the area. A statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later identified the man as Ibrahim Biari and said he was a ringleader of the "murderous terror attack" on October 7 by Hamas militants in southern Israel.
A statement from Hamas said that no commanders were at the camp and put the casualties at 400 dead or wounded. Agence France-Presse said Wednesday that Hamas is claiming that seven hostages, including three foreign passport holders, were among those killed in the airstrike. Those claims have not been independently verified.
Israel accuses Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the United States and others, of using civilians as shields and having a sprawling network of tunnels underneath Gaza where it is believed to be stockpiling weapons, food and other supplies.
There were reports Wednesday of a second strike on the camp.
“The Secretary-General is appalled over the escalating violence in Gaza, including the killing of Palestinians, including women and children, in Israeli airstrikes in residential areas of the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp yesterday and today,” Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson told reporters.
The U.N. human rights office said given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following Israeli airstrikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp, “we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes.
The attack on Jabaliya angered several of Israel’s Arab neighbors.
Jordan’s foreign minister recalled the kingdom’s ambassador to Israel and said Israel’s envoy, who departed Amman earlier, should not return “for the time being.”
The United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020, said the attack will lead to “irreparable ramifications in the region.” Saudi Arabia condemned the attack as “inhumane,” and Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the attack a war crime.
The IDF said Wednesday it has “struck over 11,000 targets belonging to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip” since the start of the war — an average of more than 440 strikes per day.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying Israel is "in a difficult war,” but vowed “we will continue until victory.”
No end in sight for humanitarian crisis
Israeli airstrikes on top of a blockade have led to a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Citing figures by the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, the United Nations says more than 8,525 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, including 3,542 children and 2,197 women, and 21,543 injured.
Overall, nearly 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, according to the Israeli authorities, the vast majority on October 7, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The U.N. said 59 more aid trucks with water, food and medicines entered Gaza on Tuesday, bringing to 217 the number that have crossed since October 21. Gaza is home to more than 2.2 million people. But the U.N. says fuel needed to transport aid and power hospitals is still being banned by Israel, which fears it will be diverted by Hamas.
The U.N. chief repeated his call Wednesday for the delivery of “vital humanitarian assistance at a scale needed to meet the mounting needs of the Palestinian population.”
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, the U.N. agency that assists Palestinians, visited southern Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Wednesday. He is the most senior U.N. official to be allowed into Gaza since the war began.
UNRWA, which has 13,000 Palestinian staff in Gaza, has lost 70 aid workers since October 7. Lazzarini said staff told him that fuel and a humanitarian pause are urgently needed.
Blinken returning to region
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel and Jordan on Friday.
His spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that the secretary will meet with Netanyahu and wants an update on Israel’s military objectives and how they plan to achieve them, as well as to discuss scaling up humanitarian aid for Gaza. Blinken is also concerned about preventing any regional spillover of the conflict.
“He will reiterate U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international humanitarian law and discuss the need to take all precautions to minimize civilian casualties, as well as our work to deliver humanitarian assistance,” Miller said.
In Jordan, Blinken will discuss the protection of civilians, humanitarian assistance to Gaza, the resumption of essential services and ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced outside of Gaza.
Margaret Besheer at the United Nations and Cindy Saine at the State Department contributed to this story. Some information also came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
