2023-11-02 17:25:49
17 Belgians and rights holders will be evacuated this Thursday from the Gaza Strip to Egypt, Hadja Lahbib announced this Thursday to RTBF. “This morning, eight Belgians and rights holders were able to cross the Rafah border and arrive in Egypt, and nine others are being verified and should leave in the coming minutes, or even hours.“, declared the minister during an interview shortly before noon this Thursday.
A baby among the evacuees
“What we also know at present“, continues the minister, “is that among the eight who have already crossed the border, there is a baby. The latter was taken to hospital“. According to the minister, the situation is developing favorably. A list of 84 verified Belgians and another list of 94 “rights holders” have been drawn up. The latter is mainly made up of family members of the Belgians present on site. All profiles were analyzed by the Foreigners’ Office and State Security.”This makes 178 people in total, but this figure is changing“, complete Hadja Lahbib.”Once a person is recognized, there are also rights holders who follow. So, for now, anyway, our services are ready. We sent reinforcements to Egypt to be ready to welcome them“, concludes the minister.
Rafah, only exit to the world
The evacuations of foreign nationals are carried out through the Rafah border post, the only opening of the Palestinian enclave to the world which is not in the hands of Israel, according to a list published by the Palestinian Authority in charge of the borders on the social network Facebook.
On Wednesday, a Belgian national who worked for the NGO Médecins sans frontières had already been evacuated.
The Gaza Strip, already subject to an Israeli blockade, has been besieged by the army of the Jewish state since the October 7 terrorist attack carried out on its soil by Hamas, which controls Gaza. Until now, the Rafah border post was only used as a transit route for humanitarian aid.
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