140 Gazan Palestinian students evacuated from Sudan: official source

On Tuesday night, the Palestinian Authority evacuated around 140 Palestinian students from Gaza who were stranded in Sudan and are in the midst of transferring them through the Rafah crossing back to the besieged coastal enclave.

"The students from Gaza who were in several states of Sudan were moved from the Palestinian embassy in Sudan to Egypt by land, and they are now on their way to the Rafah land crossing," an official source said to The New Arab.

"The journey will take 40 about hours," the source added.

The source further stressed that all the students are healthy and uninjured despite the very difficult conditions in Sudan.

The source noted all the interests of the Palestinian students were disrupted by the war, with some forced to leave  Sudan without passports or even identification papers, and their education future is now uncertain.

He pointed out that many of the students are demanding official documents in order to allow them to complete their studies in local universities or transfer their credits to universities in other countries.

A ship carrying 1,687 civilians from more than 50 countries fleeing violence in Sudan docked in Saudi Arabia, the largest evacuation effort by the Gulf kingdom so far.

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Many countries evacuated their diplomats and nationals from the Sudanese capital, with the continuing fierce fighting raging in Khartoum.

Since 15 April, large-scale clashes have erupted in several Sudanese states between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The deadly clashes have killed more than 459 people, with about 4,000 wounded, according to Tuesday figures from UN agencies.

On Monday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced that more than 272 Palestinians in Sudan are evacuated from the capital of Khartoum over two convoys.

The first convoy took approximately 72 Palestinian nationals including families and students to Port Sudan, while the second one carried about 200 Palestinians moved towards the border with Egypt, according to the ministry.

The evacuation came hours after the Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki asked during a phone call with his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Sunday for assistance.

On Saturday, several countries began evacuating their nationals from Sudan as seeing no hope of an end to the conflicts in Sudan.