- Gaza: Britons’ evacuation challenges
- Conflicting info on casualties
- Dual citizenship status unclear
A greater number of British nationals have started departing the Gaza Strip since Friday when Palestinian authorities declared nearly one hundred of them eligible to cross into Egypt.
The Palestinian border authority’s list designates over ninety individuals as British nationals, according to the UK section.
Positive Developments Amid Uncertainty
A development that Foreign Secretary James Cleverly termed “positive news” was the departure of “a number” of Britons from Gaza.
Mr. Cleverly failed to provide an estimate of the remaining number.
The United Kingdom “will continue to work with” regional authorities to ensure that as many Britons as “possible” are able to evacuate Gaza, he added.
At least nineteen individuals specified on the list are unable to depart via the Rafah crossing.
Challenges in Evacuation
Three family groupings stated that they are in the northern region of Gaza and that they consider traveling to the border crossing in the south unsafe.
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While they have departed, the parents-in-law of Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, who have been ensnared in Gaza since October 7, described themselves as “extremely traumatised.”
Among the first to return to the United Kingdom was Liverpool surgeon Dr. Abdelkader Hammad, whose reunion with his family at Heathrow on Friday evening was a “huge, enormous relief.”
“It has been four weeks waiting for this moment really to happen, and, I mean, at some stage, I wasn’t sure this would happen really,” he said, “but thanks to God, I am here.”
He claimed that he had destroyed entire neighborhoods in Gaza, and one could “smell death” as numerous corpses remained buried beneath the rubble.
Gaza has had no access to or from its borders since October 7 when Hamas, a terrorist organization banned in the United Kingdom, launched an attack against Israel, resulting in the deaths of over 1,400 individuals and the abduction of over 240 others.
Subsequent to that period, the Israeli military has initiated an extensive aerial bombardment of Gaza, imposed a “complete siege” on the strip, and most recently initiated a ground offensive in the northern region of Gaza.
Hamas controls Gaza’s health ministry, and they report that they have slain over 9,000 people.
Mr. Cleverly stated that his office had not reported any deaths of British nationals in Gaza. However, they frequently received contradictory or interrupted information.
An estimated 200 British citizens were in Gaza prior to the outbreak of conflict.
Since Wednesday, when authorities granted access to the border crossing into Egypt for some foreign nationals and injured Palestinians, only a limited number of people have left Gaza so far.
Challenges Faced by British Nationals
Ibrahim Assalia, a British national who three months ago traveled to Gaza with his wife and children in response to his father’s cancer diagnosis, was on the list for Friday but was unable to reach Rafah.
According to him, Israeli tanks have blocked the approaches to the Rafah border and are “shelling every civilian car that passes through.” As a result, his family is unable to reach the border.
Mr. Assalia stated that a family of ten was slain Thursday while attempting to reach the border, adding, “The children are awake and crying. We despise each passing minute.”
The Foreign Office has stated that it is unable to comment on specific cases but added that “every level of government is working to ensure British nationals are able to depart.”
The Israeli military has stated in the past that it does not target civilians.
The Palestinian authorities have published a list that identifies 92 out of 127 names as British nationals. The dual citizenship status of the remaining individuals, the overwhelming majority of whom are described as Palestinian, is unclear.
Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, the parents-in-law of Humza Yousaf and residents of Dundee, have successfully arrived in Egypt subsequent to becoming ensnared in Gaza while on a visit to relatives prior to the closure of the borders.
The first minister and his wife Nadia confirmed her parents’ departure and thanked those who assisted them, including the Foreign Office crisis team, in a statement released on Friday.
These last four weeks have been a living nightmare for our family; we are so thankful for all of the messages of comfort and prayers that we have received from across the world, and indeed from across the political spectrum in Scotland and the UK,” according to them.
British Nationals Departure and Government Caution
Security minister Tom Tugendhat stated on Friday that the British government is “extremely cautious” about providing an exact figure regarding the number of individuals who will be permitted to exit Gaza, adding that “we have no control over the situation within Gaza or the border.”
“So what we don’t want to do is give false hope or false belief to individuals that they’ll be able to cross today,” according to him.
On Thursday, the Foreign Office did not confirm the number of additional British nationals who crossed the Gaza-Egypt border.
A dual UK-US citizen who departed Gaza with her family on Thursday told that an exception was made at the border for her British-Palestinian spouse because he was traveling with family and was on the list of US citizens permitted to depart.
Academic Dr Emilee Rauschenberger, who resides in Salford, characterizes the situation at Rafah as tumultuous, with many individuals unable to reach the far south of Gaza due to the lack of access to automobiles or alternative modes of transportation.
She stated that the absence of a system to distinguish between individuals eligible to cross and those not on the list but wishing to do so created a stressful situation.
The family made it to Egypt after many hours of waiting on the Gazan side of the border crossing; there, they were provided with food and water and examined by medical personnel.
British embassy personnel in Egypt informed Dr. Rauschenberger on Thursday that approximately ten British nationals, presumably employed by aid organizations or other international organizations, also crossed the border.
Efforts for Safe Departure
The British government has provided the Egyptian and Israeli authorities with a list of British citizens and their dependents, in the order of medical vulnerability.
Dr. Ahmed Abou Foul, who is based in Birmingham, has told that sixteen members of his family, including eight children, are attempting to flee Gaza.
Due to the fact that the names of two young children and their mothers, who are his sisters-in-law, do not appear on the roster, he expresses ambivalent emotions regarding the news.
