Foreign Nationals, Injured Palestinians Continue to Leave Gaza

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Facts

  • On Thursday, foreign nationals and injured Palestinians in Gaza crossed into Egypt for a second day after the Rafah border crossing was opened the day before in a Qatar-brokered deal — in coordination with the US — between Egypt, Israel, and Hamas.1
  • A list published by the Palestinian border authority that appears to be an Israel-approved register of people allowed to cross on Thursday included 596 names from 15 countries, including the US, Belgium, Greece, Croatia, the Netherlands, and Sri Lanka. According to the US, 79 Americans have left Gaza since Wednesday.2
  • Meanwhile, officials from Egypt's Foreign Ministry told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that as many as 7.5K foreigners from more than 60 countries would be allowed to leave Gaza in the coming two weeks.3
  • US Pres. Biden praised this breakthrough, emphasizing the role of "intense and urgent" American diplomacy with its Middle Eastern partners in achieving this deal despite a marked increase in bombardments and fighting.4
  • Though people with foreign passports and some wounded Palestinians have been allowed to enter Egypt, it's unlikely that most of the people living in the densely-populated enclave will be able to leave Gaza as neither Egypt nor Jordan are willing to accept refugees.5
  • Meanwhile, Israel confirmed on Monday that a concept paper proposing Palestinians in Gaza to be transferred to Egypt's Sinai Desert at the end of the war, which had circulated for weeks drawing outrage in the Arab world, was indeed one of many ideas put forward by its Intelligence Ministry but downplayed its seriousness.6

Sources: 1CNN (a), 2Reuters, 3The Wall Street Journal, 4CNN (b), 5Axios and 6NBC.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Guardian. Evacuation of wounded Palestinians and foreign nationals from the war-torn territory is an important breakthrough following weeks of Israeli airstrikes across the Strip that it was forced to carry out in defense against Hamas' brutality. Though the situation in Gaza remains extremely fluid, as hospitals in Gaza struggle to treat more than 21K injured, the Rafah border opening is a ray of hope for the sick and injured.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Instead of pushing Israel for a ceasefire and urging it to abide by international humanitarian law, which could have saved millions of lives, the US has secured safe passage for foreign nationals, primarily Americans. In his pursuit of Hamas, Netanyahu is punishing Palestinian as a whole, and the US' celebration of this evacuation is a slap in the face to thousands of Palestinians who have lost everything in the crossfire.

Predictions