Egypt, Israel and the United States have agreed to allow foreigners in Gaza to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, a senior Egyptian official says.The official said Saturday that Israel has agreed to refrain from striking areas the foreigners would pass through on their way out of the besieged Palestinian territory. He said Qatar also was involved in the negotiations and the participants received also approval from the Palestinian militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.A second official at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing point said they received “instructions” to reopen it on Saturday afternoon for foreigners coming from Gaza.The first official said negotiations were still underway to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza through the crossing point.Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media. Israel’s military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate Friday ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning it received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours.Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically, with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territory’s only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them.U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Israel on Friday, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on Oct. 7.Some key takeaways from the war:Will Israel launch a ground assault? Israel’s military told about 1 million people to evacuate toward the southern part of Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group in retaliation for its surprise attack nearly a week ago.The U.N. warned that ordering almost half the Gaza population to flee en masse would be calamitous, and it urged Israel to reverse the unprecedented directive. As airstrikes hammered the territory throughout the day, families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with blankets and possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City.Hamas’ media office said warplanes struck cars fleeing south, killing more than 70 people, while Israel’s military said that its troops had conducted temporary raids in Gaza to battle militants. Israel said its soldiers also hunted for traces of some 150 people abducted in Hamas’ attack last Saturday.Video above: An aerial view of the destruction in GazaIsrael’s government is under intense pressure from the public to topple Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. Israel has called up 360,000 army reservists and threatened an unprecedented response to Hamas’ wide-ranging incursion.The Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, have been killed in Israel — a staggering toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks.What is the situation in Gaza?People in Gaza woke to chaos Friday because of the massive evacuation orders for northern Gaza, including Gaza City. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs told residents of the north of the territory to “remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation.”Before the evacuation directives, 423,000 Gaza Strip residents had already fled their homes, according to the United Nations.“This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, while she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags amid the panicked shouts of her relatives. She said all the U.N. staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah.Gaza is only 25 miles long, wedged among Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.Video above: Blinken says he met with families of Americans killed, held hostage by HamasUnrelenting Israeli strikes over the past week have leveled large swaths of neighborhoods, magnifying the suffering of Gaza, which has also been sealed off from food, water and medical supplies, and under a virtual total power blackout.The morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital overflowed Thursday as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them on the sixth day of Israel’s heavy aerial bombardment. Gaza reported 1,800 dead and 7,400 wounded.What has the response from other nations been?President Joe Biden said Friday that it’s a priority of his administration to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.Speaking at an event in Philadelphia to promote a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel in the U.S., Biden paused to note the deteriorating situation for Palestinians as Israel continues to bombard the strip in retaliation for last weekend’s attacks on Israel.Biden said he’s directed his team to work with the governments in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations and the United Nations to surge humanitarian relief to those impacted by the war.“We can’t lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do Hamas,” Biden said. “And they’re suffering as a result as well.”Biden again lashed out at Hamas, saying the militant group in control of Gaza makes the terrorist group Al-Qaida “look pure.”Video above: Gaza war hospital power crisisThe U.N. Security Council still hasn’t found a collective voice on the Israel-Hamas war after meeting behind closed doors Friday for the second time in five days.Russia is proposing a “humanitarian cease-fire,” which could be a tough sell as Israel is expected to undertake a ground offensive against the Hamas militants who rule Gaza and launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel last weekend.Russia’s draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, also condemns “all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism.”Israel isn’t on the 15-member council. There was no immediate public response to the Russian draft from the veto-wielding United States, whose defense chief assured Israel on Friday that “ we have your back.”Other council members are assessing the draft, and it’s not clear when it might get a vote.European Union leader Charles Michel on Friday warned that the Israel-Hamas war could create a surge in refugees heading for Europe, raising the risk of spurring on anti-migrant forces, deepening divisions and inflaming tensions between supporters of Israel and the Palestinians.Syria’s president on Friday called on countries of the world to stand together to stop “the crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people.”The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned the Israeli army’s decision to order the evacuation.Shelling on Lebanon border kills international journalistsAn Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon on Friday, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured.An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car.Video above: Gaza war hospital power crisisReuters said two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area.Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, also were among the wounded.France’s international news agency, Agence France-Presse, said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names.U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric called the deaths “another example of the daily dangers journalists face in covering conflict throughout the world” and said the world body hopes for an investigation into what happened.What is the status of foreign citizens in Israel?Dozens of citizens of other countries, who were in Israel for reasons ranging from raves to agricultural work, were killed or abducted in the Hamas attack last Saturday.Video above: White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Israel-Hamas warThe number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the latest Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 27, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday, and at least 14 more Americans remain unaccounted for.China, Brazil, Estonia, France, Nepal, the Philippines and Turkey have all reported citizens dead or missing.What prompted Hamas’ attack on Israel?Hamas, which seeks Israel’s destruction, says it is defending Palestinians’ right to freedom and self-determination. But the devastation following Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7 has sharpened questions about its strategy and objectives.Video above: Biden speaks on Wednesday about Israel-Hamas warDesperation has grown among Palestinians, many of whom see nothing to lose under unending Israeli control and increasing settlements in the West Bank, the blockade in Gaza, and what they see as the world’s apathy.In addition to citing long-simmering tensions, Hamas officials cite a long-running dispute over the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Competing claims over the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, have spilled into violence before, including a bloody 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in 2021.___Associated Press Writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
Egypt, Israel and the United States have agreed to allow foreigners in Gaza to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, a senior Egyptian official says.
The official said Saturday that Israel has agreed to refrain from striking areas the foreigners would pass through on their way out of the besieged Palestinian territory. He said Qatar also was involved in the negotiations and the participants received also approval from the Palestinian militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Advertisement
A second official at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing point said they received “instructions” to reopen it on Saturday afternoon for foreigners coming from Gaza.
The first official said negotiations were still underway to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza through the crossing point.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
Israel’s military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate Friday ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning it received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza within 24 hours.
Suffering in Gaza has been rising dramatically, with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territory’s only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital overflowed as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Israel on Friday, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives on both sides since Hamas launched an incursion on Oct. 7.
Some key takeaways from the war:
Will Israel launch a ground assault?
Israel’s military told about 1 million people to evacuate toward the southern part of Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion against the ruling Hamas militant group in retaliation for its surprise attack nearly a week ago.
The U.N. warned that ordering almost half the Gaza population to flee en masse would be calamitous, and it urged Israel to reverse the unprecedented directive. As airstrikes hammered the territory throughout the day, families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with blankets and possessions streamed down a main road out of Gaza City.
Hamas’ media office said warplanes struck cars fleeing south, killing more than 70 people, while Israel’s military said that its troops had conducted temporary raids in Gaza to battle militants. Israel said its soldiers also hunted for traces of some 150 people abducted in Hamas’ attack last Saturday.
Video above: An aerial view of the destruction in Gaza
Israel’s government is under intense pressure from the public to topple Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007. Israel has called up 360,000 army reservists and threatened an unprecedented response to Hamas’ wide-ranging incursion.
The Israeli military said more than 1,300 people, including 222 soldiers, have been killed in Israel — a staggering toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks.
What is the situation in Gaza?
People in Gaza woke to chaos Friday because of the massive evacuation orders for northern Gaza, including Gaza City. The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs told residents of the north of the territory to “remain steadfast in your homes and to stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation.”
Before the evacuation directives, 423,000 Gaza Strip residents had already fled their homes, according to the United Nations.
“This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City, while she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags amid the panicked shouts of her relatives. She said all the U.N. staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah.
Gaza is only 25 miles long, wedged among Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
Video above: Blinken says he met with families of Americans killed, held hostage by Hamas
Unrelenting Israeli strikes over the past week have leveled large swaths of neighborhoods, magnifying the suffering of Gaza, which has also been sealed off from food, water and medical supplies, and under a virtual total power blackout.
The morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital overflowed Thursday as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them on the sixth day of Israel’s heavy aerial bombardment. Gaza reported 1,800 dead and 7,400 wounded.
What has the response from other nations been?
President Joe Biden said Friday that it’s a priority of his administration to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking at an event in Philadelphia to promote a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel in the U.S., Biden paused to note the deteriorating situation for Palestinians as Israel continues to bombard the strip in retaliation for last weekend’s attacks on Israel.
Biden said he’s directed his team to work with the governments in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations and the United Nations to surge humanitarian relief to those impacted by the war.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do Hamas,” Biden said. “And they’re suffering as a result as well.”
Biden again lashed out at Hamas, saying the militant group in control of Gaza makes the terrorist group Al-Qaida “look pure.”
Video above: Gaza war hospital power crisis
The U.N. Security Council still hasn’t found a collective voice on the Israel-Hamas war after meeting behind closed doors Friday for the second time in five days.
Russia is proposing a “humanitarian cease-fire,” which could be a tough sell as Israel is expected to undertake a ground offensive against the Hamas militants who rule Gaza and launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel last weekend.
Russia’s draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, also condemns “all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism.”
Israel isn’t on the 15-member council. There was no immediate public response to the Russian draft from the veto-wielding United States, whose defense chief assured Israel on Friday that “ we have your back.”
Other council members are assessing the draft, and it’s not clear when it might get a vote.
European Union leader Charles Michel on Friday warned that the Israel-Hamas war could create a surge in refugees heading for Europe, raising the risk of spurring on anti-migrant forces, deepening divisions and inflaming tensions between supporters of Israel and the Palestinians.
Syria’s president on Friday called on countries of the world to stand together to stop “the crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people.”
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned the Israeli army’s decision to order the evacuation.
Shelling on Lebanon border kills international journalists
An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in south Lebanon on Friday, killing a Reuters videographer and leaving six other journalists injured.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene saw the body of Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and the six who were wounded, some of whom were rushed to hospitals in ambulances. Images from the scene showed a charred car.
Video above: Gaza war hospital power crisis
Reuters said two of its journalists, Thaer Al-Sudani and Maher Nazeh, were wounded in the shelling in the border area.
Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV, said two of its employees, Elie Brakhya and reporter Carmen Joukhadar, also were among the wounded.
France’s international news agency, Agence France-Presse, said two of its journalists also were among the wounded, but the agency did not release their names.
U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric called the deaths “another example of the daily dangers journalists face in covering conflict throughout the world” and said the world body hopes for an investigation into what happened.
What is the status of foreign citizens in Israel?
Dozens of citizens of other countries, who were in Israel for reasons ranging from raves to agricultural work, were killed or abducted in the Hamas attack last Saturday.
Video above: White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Israel-Hamas war
The number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the latest Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 27, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday, and at least 14 more Americans remain unaccounted for.
China, Brazil, Estonia, France, Nepal, the Philippines and Turkey have all reported citizens dead or missing.
What prompted Hamas’ attack on Israel?
Hamas, which seeks Israel’s destruction, says it is defending Palestinians’ right to freedom and self-determination. But the devastation following Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7 has sharpened questions about its strategy and objectives.
Video above: Biden speaks on Wednesday about Israel-Hamas war
Desperation has grown among Palestinians, many of whom see nothing to lose under unending Israeli control and increasing settlements in the West Bank, the blockade in Gaza, and what they see as the world’s apathy.
In addition to citing long-simmering tensions, Hamas officials cite a long-running dispute over the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque that is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Competing claims over the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, have spilled into violence before, including a bloody 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in 2021.
___
Associated Press Writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
