Seven Swiss nationals depart Gaza Strip for Egypt

In addition to Swiss nationals, the majority of those who had already left on Thursday were Americans. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Seven Swiss nationals have left the Gaza Strip for Egypt as of Thursday afternoon. Six of them are dual nationals, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis announced on X (formerly Twitter). He expressed relief.

At the Rafah border crossing, staff members of the Swiss embassy in Cairo met the seven citizens, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs told the Keystone-SDA news agency. The embassy staff looked after them as part of their role providing consular protection.

As far as the foreign ministry is aware, there is still one Palestinian with Swiss citizenship in the Gaza Strip who is waiting to leave. Four dual nationals have decided to stay temporarily.

According to the Egyptian Red Crescent Society, 400 foreigners and Palestinians with dual citizenship left Rafah on Thursday and another 200 people with foreign passports were scheduled to leave the same day.

In addition to Swiss nationals, the majority of those who had already left on Thursday were Americans. There were also people from Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, Croatia, Mexico, South Korea and other countries.

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In the transit area, they completed formalities for entry into Egypt, said Raed Abdel Nasser, Secretary General of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai. The Palestinian border authority had asked them to wait at the border crossing.

Exits only since Wednesday

In the embattled Gaza Strip, some 7,000 foreign nationals are waiting to leave, according to Egyptian figures. For the first time on Wednesday, hundreds of foreigners and Palestinians with a second passport were able to leave the area sealed off by Israel. Injured Palestinians were also brought to Egyptian hospitals.

Israel has been attacking targets in the Gaza Strip after the devastating Hamas terror attack on October 7 and has sealed off the densely populated coastal strip. The United Nations says the humanitarian crisis is worsening in Gaza. About 1.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting inside the Gaza Strip.

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