Hundreds of foreign nationals, including Britons and Americans, and dozens of seriously injured Palestinians have been allowed to leave Gaza, as the Rafah crossing opened for the first time since the war began more than three weeks ago.
Numbers making it out were unclear, but some were turned away in chaotic scenes as desperate families begged guards to be allowed to cross to safety as heavy bombardment by Israel continued.
The UK Foreign Office said the crossing to Egypt would be open for “controlled and time-limited periods” to allow foreign nationals and the seriously injured to leave.
A communications blackout meant those trying to flee do not know whether their names are on the list of permitted evacuees.
It comes as the only cancer treatment hospital in Gaza is out of service after it ran out of fuel, health officials said. And the Palestinian health ministry warned that Al-Shifa, the primary hospital in Gaza, had less than 24 hours of fuel remaining.
Egypt will take in 81 wounded people from Gaza and treat them in hospital, Gaza’s General Authority for Crossings and Borders told the New York Times.
Earlier, the Israeli military admitted launching a wide-scale airstrike on the densely inhabited Jabalia refugee camp where potentially “dozens” of civilians were killed.
