First group of injured Palestinians, other foreign nationals cross into Egypt
The conflict in Israel and Gaza continues to intensify, with a strike on a refugee camp in northern Gaza, and for the first time, Palestinians who have dual citizenship in Egypt crossed the border into Egypt to be treated for critical injuries.
More than 8,700 people have been killed in Palestine since the conflict began Oct. 7, and at least 1,400 Israelis have been killed.
First group of injured Palestinians cross into Egypt
A deal was negotiated Tuesday between Israel, Egypt, Hamas, the U.S. and Qatar “to receive hundreds of people on Wednesday,” The New York Times reported.
At least 76 critically injured people have entered the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing — an area that “has been the focus of heated international negotiations as the only possible escape route, as well as the only entry point for relief supplies,” per the Times.
At least 81 critically injured Palestinians are expected to arrive in Egypt, “one by one,” Egypt’s Ministry of Health told CNN.
Hundreds of people with foreign passports are waiting to leave the area as well, including five Americans, per NBC News.
Humanitarian aid crisis worsens in Gaza
Electricity, communication and internet connections have been cut off again in the Gaza Strip — “leaving Gaza’s two million people in a 34-hour communications blackout,” the Times reported.
Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel in an act of expressing “condemnation over the ongoing war in Gaza,” NBC News reported. Jordan’s serving Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi said in a statement the ambassador could return only on the conditions of ending the war and concluding “the humanitarian crises it had caused.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a Senate hearing that “humanitarian pauses must be considered,” per The Washington Post.
Blinken plans to visit Israel Friday to meet with Israeli government officials.
Israeli strike in Gaza refugee camp targets Hamas commander
A series of Israeli strikes attacked an area that houses the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip in order to target a senior Hamas commander, the Post reported. The attack killed hundreds of people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, which treated injured people from the attack.
Israel confirmed the attack did kill the top Hamas commander. “Hamas strongly denied the presence of one of its leaders in the camp,” according to CNN.
Hamas also claims the attack killed seven hostages the militant group had abducted on Oct. 7, per NBC News.
“The right to self-defense should always be balanced by the obligation to spare civilians to the greatest extent possible,” Josep Borrell, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, said, per NBC News.
