Almost 100 people from Britain have been given permission to leave Gaza and go to Egypt on Friday.
The Palestinian border authority has a list of approved foreigners in the UK. There are 127 people on this list, and 92 of them are British citizens.
Out of the remaining 35 names, most of them are Palestinians. There are two people who are listed as dependents from Ireland, and one woman from Morocco.
Around 200 people from the United Kingdom are thought to be in Gaza.
We are not sure yet if the Rafah border will be open on Friday. However, on Wednesday, some people from other countries and Palestinians who are injured started to be allowed to leave Gaza and go to Egypt through the crossing.
A few British people have already left along with many other foreigners leaving Gaza this week.
Since 7 October, the border crossings in and out of Gaza have been shut down. This happened because Hamas, a terrorist organization banned in the UK, attacked Israel. They caused the death of over 1,400 individuals and held 240 people as hostages.
After that, the Israeli army has carried out a very large bombing attack on Gaza, isolated the area completely, and just now started a ground attack on the northern part of Gaza. The health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, says that over 9,000 individuals have lost their lives.
On Friday, the security minister, Tom Tugendhat, stated that the British government is being careful in providing an exact count of the number of people who can be rescued. This is because they do not have control over the border or the situation inside Gaza.
“What we want to avoid is giving people unrealistic expectations that they will be able to cross today,” he said during an interview on BBC Breakfast.
Mr Tugendhat said that there is a list of people who have been given permission to leave Gaza quickly. The Egyptian and Israeli governments have agreed to this.
He said that the UK government has approved the list to include British citizens, as well as dependent or entitled individuals.
The UK has sent a group of Border Force members to Cairo and consular officials to Arish, close to Rafah. They are there to help UK citizens who have left Gaza.
Dr Abdel Hammad, a surgeon from Liverpool, was able to leave through the Rafah crossing into Egypt on Thursday, according to his family.
The UK government said that two aid workers from the UK successfully crossed the border into Gaza through a crossing called Rafah. This crossing is not under the control of Israel.
The Foreign Office stated on Thursday that some people from the UK were able to cross the border between Gaza and Egypt. However, they didn’t give any information about the exact number.
A person with citizenship in both the UK and the US, who was in Gaza with her family, said that her British-Palestinian husband was allowed to cross the border because he was with his family and on the list of US citizens who could leave.
Dr Emilee Rauschenberger, a teacher who lives in Salford, said that things are very disordered and confusing in Rafah. Many people are finding it difficult to travel to the southern part of Gaza because they don’t have cars or any other means of transportation.
She said on BBC Radio 4’s Today show on Friday that there was no way to separate people who could leave from those who wanted to but couldn’t, causing a lot of stress.
After waiting for a long time on the Gazan side of the border, the family successfully entered Egypt. In Egypt, they received food, water, and medical attention.
Dr Rauschenberger was informed by the British embassy in Egypt that approximately 10 British citizens, who she believes are employed by aid agencies or other international organizations, also crossed over on Thursday.
The UK government has shared a list with the Israeli and Egyptian authorities. This list includes British citizens and their family members and is organized based on their medical vulnerability.
Dr Ahmed Abou Foul, who works in Birmingham, said that 16 of his family members are in the process of trying to leave Gaza. This includes eight children.
He feels both good and bad about the news because his two young nieces and their moms cannot go since their names are not on the list.
Dr Abou Foul said on BBC Breakfast that his family is puzzled about why they were not included, despite being promised by the Foreign Office.