Gaza border authority: Rafah land crossing to reopen

Gaza's border authority announced on Saturday that the Rafah land crossing into Egypt would reopen on Sunday for foreign passport holders and dependents.

The crossing between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai peninsula is the only entry into the strip not controlled by Israel, and has been crucial for aid trucks and evacuees, who number in the thousands.

Evacuations from the Gaza Strip into Egypt, including for Palestinians needing urgent medical treatment, were suspended on Friday, Egyptian and Palestinian sources said, due to problems transporting medical evacuees from northern Gaza.

 The departures via Rafah had been paused on Wednesday for a second time following bombardments on the route within Gaza leading to the border.

In an interview with the BBC, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Israel to stop killing women and babies and called for a ceasefire. He said it’s impossible to fight terrorism by killing innocent people pic.twitter.com/79BMGIIGA9

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) November 11, 2023

The Red Cross said its convoy escorting medical evacuees on Tuesday had been targeted, prompting it to pause the escorts.

Evacuations from Gaza through Rafah began on November 1 for an estimated 7,000 foreign passport holders, dual nationals and their dependents, as well as a limited number of people needing urgent medical treatment.

U.S. Special Envoy David Satterfield told reporters he hoped evacuations through Rafah would become easier with four-hour humanitarian pauses that the US said on Thursday Israel agreed upon.

The border would begin operating at 9 am local time (0700 GMT) for foreigners and medical evacuees, Egyptian sources said.