Egypt prepared on Wednesday for injured Gazans and some foreign passport holders to start arriving through the Rafah crossing after Qatar brokered a deal between Egypt, Israel and Hamas to allow for limited evacuations from the Gaza Strip.
A first group of injured evacuees entered Egypt in ambulances, Egyptian media and a source at the border said at about 9.35am Irish time.
Irish diplomats are “urgently” seeking to have Irish people trapped in Gaza included in future evacuations across the border, a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman said.
The spokesman confirmed the department was not aware that any Irish citizens were among the first group to be allowed over the Rafah crossing.
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The department said it was “urgently seeking to have Irish people included in subsequent evacuations”.
Diplomats based in embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv were in “constant communication” with authorities in Egypt and Israel, raising the cases of Irish people stuck in Gaza, he said.
“The department is also in regular communication with Irish citizens on the ground, although there are ongoing communication challenges. We are updating citizens directly as we have confirmed information,” he said.
A Palestinian border authority source and two Egyptian security sources said 81 injured people would enter Egypt for treatment on Wednesday.
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In addition, up to 500 foreign passport holders will pass through the Rafah crossing on Wednesday, an Egyptian security source said, adding that about 200 people were waiting on the Palestinian side.
A second source with knowledge of the deal said there was a list of up to 500 who would leave Gaza but not all were expected to make it out on Wednesday.
Medical sources in Egypt’s Sinai region, which borders Gaza, said a field hospital of four tents, each containing 20 beds, and 12 medical caravans had been set up in Sheikh Zuweid, 15km from Rafah.
Hospitals in Sheikh Zuweid and Al-Arish, a town a little farther away, were also preparing to admit Gazan patients, with more difficult cases expected to be sent further out to Ismailia, the sources said.
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A source at the border said 40 ambulances were at the crossing to take part in the evacuation operations. In addition, 70 aid trucks were in the Rafah area, going through the process of checks required before they can go into Gaza, under an existing agreement with Israel.
Israel responded with a total blockade of Gaza, heavy bombardment and a ground operation after Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7th.
The Hamas attack killed about 300 soldiers and 1,100 civilians, according to Israeli figures, and more than 200 hostages were taken.
At least 8,525 Palestinians, including 3,542 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7th, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, Israeli air strikes hit a densely populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 50 Palestinians and a Hamas commander.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he was “deeply shocked” by the number of casualties from the air strikes on the Jabalia camp.
Mr Martin said: “Ireland has made clear on many occasions that Israel’s right to defend itself must be within the parameters of international humanitarian law.
“With the unfolding tragedy in Gaza, the European Union has been calling since last week for humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs.
“We now urgently need a humanitarian ceasefire and a significant scaling up of humanitarian access to get vital supplies to civilians. We cannot wait any longer,” he said on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said 11 soldiers were also killed in fighting in Gaza on Tuesday, the biggest one-day loss for the armed forces since Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on October 7th, killing about 300 soldiers and some 1,100 civilians.
Health officials in Gaza said on Wednesday the only cancer treatment hospital in the area has gone out of service after it ran out of fuel.
The director of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital told a press conference aired by Al-Jazeera TV that the hospital, which mainly treats cancer patients, had used up its fuel and was now out of service.
“We tell the world don’t leave cancer patients to a certain death due to the hospital being out of service,” director Subhi Skaik said.
Palestinian health minister Mai al-Kaila confirmed the director’s remarks in a statement, adding that this brings the total number of hospitals not operating right now in the Strip to 16 out of 35.
“The lives of 70 cancer patients inside the hospital are seriously threatened,” she said in a statement. “The number of cancer patients in the Gaza Strip is about 2,000 living in catastrophic health conditions as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip and the displacement of a large number,” al-Kaila added.
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Speaking in the South Korean capital of Seoul, Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney said there was growing concern in the international community about Israel’s actions in Gaza, which have killed more than 8,000 people including many children.
Mr Coveney said the targeting by Israeli forces of a building in a refugee camp in southern Gaza should raise serious concern in the light of international humanitarian law.
“This should not be happening. And while of course Israel has the right to defend itself and has the right to go after Hamas for what they have done to Israeli civilians, they don’t have the right to respond in a way that puts so many civilians and children’s lives at risk. And that is what’s been happening day after day,” he said.
“And that’s why I think there’s an increasing concern now amongst the international community as to the Israeli approach in Gaza. It must be said that a Palestinian child’s life is valued or should be valued in the same way as an Israeli or an Irish child’s life. And what we’re seeing at the moment, in my view, is not consistent with international humanitarian law. And like many other countries, we urge restraint and look for a ceasefire from Israel so that we can respond to the humanitarian needs across the Gaza Strip.”
On Wednesday, communications and internet services were completely cut off in the enclave again, Gaza’s largest telecommunications provider Paltel said.
Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas after several inconclusive wars dating back to the militant group’s 2007 takeover of Gaza.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has dismissed international calls for a “humanitarian pause” in fighting to enable emergency aid deliveries to civilians.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslim states to cease oil and food exports to Israel, demanding an end to its bombardment of the Gaza Strip, state media reported on Wednesday.
“The bombings on Gaza must stop immediately . . . the path of oil and food exports to the Zionist regime should be stopped,” Mr Khamenei said in a speech, according to Iranian state media.
Iran’s clerical rulers have warned Israel of an escalation if it failed to end aggressions against Palestinians, with authorities indicating Tehran-backed proxies in the Middle East were ready to act. – Reuters