• Biden backs ‘humanitarian pause’ in conflict, but opposes ceasefire calls
• Ground battles rage in Gaza where water, gas, food have run out
• Britain sends 30 tonnes of aid to Egypt
• Hezbollah attacks 19 Israeli positions

RAFAH: Hundreds of foreigners and dual nationals fled the Gaza Strip for Egypt on Thursday as Israeli forces bombarded and fought ground battles in the besieged Palestinian territory, where thousands have died since Oct 7.

Egypt said it eventually plans to help evacuate 7,000 foreigners through the Rafah crossing and a spokesperson for the Palestinian side of the border post said about 100 had been able to leave on Thursday.

Almost 400 foreign passport holders as well as 60 severely wounded Palestinians in ambulances crossed by the end of the second day of departures, the spokesperson said. Egyptian officials later reported the first arrivals.

A list of those approved to travel on Thursday shows hundreds of US citizens and 50 Belgians along with smaller numbers from European, Arab, Asian and African countries.

“There was no food, no water, no gas, nowhere to take shelter,” said US passport holder Salma Shaath, 14, as she prepared to cross.

“People were going to hospitals to sleep, there are a lot of martyrs, there’s no internet, no communications and no electricity. Our house was bombed, so we came here to Rafah.”

The evacuation marks a tiny proportion of the 2.4 million people trapped in Gaza under weeks of bombardment since the Hamas raid in Israel on Oct 7.

Britain said it had begun sending 30 tonnes of aid to Egypt — such as forklift trucks, belt conveyors and lighting towers — to help Rafah process humanitarian aid deliveries faster.

The evacuations come as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken set off for his second trip to the Middle East since the latest crisis erupted. He will spend Friday in Israel before a trip to Jordan.

US President Joe Biden supported a humanitarian ‘pause’ in the conflict to relieve pressure on civilians, but opposed calls for a ‘ceasefire’, saying Hamas has no intention of holding fire and Israel has a right to defend itself.

Ground battles flared again in northern Gaza in the early hours of Thursday, with Israel’s army chief Lt Gen Herzi Halevi saying troops were inside Gaza, besieging Gaza City and “deepening infiltration” of Hamas-held areas.

The Israeli army is also seeking to secure the release of prisoners, both civilians and soldiers, taken by Hamas. Hamas said seven of the estimated 242 prisoners it is holding, died in Tuesday’s bombings.

Israel says a total of 332 soldiers died in the raid and during the ground invasion of Gaza.

Now gruelling urban warfare lies ahead deeper inside Gaza, where Hamas is said to have fortified itself.

The Hamas-run health ministry said on Thursday more than 9,000 people have died so far in Gaza, mostly women and children.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it attacked 19 Israeli positions along the border simultaneously on Thursday, prompting a “broad” retaliatory assault.

Another barrage of rockets wounded two people in the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona near the Lebanese border, Israel’s emergency medical service said.

Focus on Jabalia camp

Special concern has focused on Israel’s repeated heavy strikes on the region’s largest refugee camp — the densely populated Jabalia, north of Gaza City — where explosions brought down residential buildings.

According to the Hamas-run administration, 195 Palestinians were killed in two days of Israeli strikes on Jabalia, with hundreds more missing and wounded.

Major strikes also hit Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp and an area near a UN-run school in Jabalia, where the health ministry said 27 people had died.

Outside the Al Quds Hospital in Gaza City, displaced residents seeking shelter from Israeli strikes said civilians would not withstand the barrage much longer.

“This is not a life. We need a safe place for our children,” said 50-year-old Hiyam Shamlakh. “Everybody is terrified, children, women and the elderly.”

Talal Shamlakh, 65, said: “There have been missiles since 7am around the hospital and we couldn’t sleep while children are screaming.”

Another Gazan, Mahmoud Abu Jarad, said civilians would not be able to tolerate another week of strikes. “We demand a ceasefire. This is the most important thing,” the 30-year-old said.

Witnesses about the attack on Jabalia said rescuers desperately clawed through the rubble and twisted metal in frantic attempts to bring out survivors and bodies.

Emergency responders say “whole families” have died.

The wounded were rushed away by cart, motorcycle and ambulance as anguished wails and blaring sirens filled the dusty air.

But Gaza’s hospitals have been overwhelmed and run short of medical supplies and even electricity.

Violence has also flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where more than 130 Palestinians have died over the past one month, according to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in West Bank on Thursday, the PA said.

Aid delivery

The World Health Organisation has slammed the lack of safety guarantees for bringing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, saying it was near impossible to get medical supplies to hospitals.

The WHO said the health needs in the Palestinian enclave were soaring while its ability to address them was plunging.

The UN health agency has been able to deliver 54 metric tonnes of humanitarian supplies into the territory over the past fortnight, but said that would not even begin to address the scale of need.

“WHO will do everything we can to ensure that all people in Gaza have access to life-saving health and humanitarian services,” its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2023