Many British citizens are leaving Gaza because the Palestinian authorities said that almost 100 of them can go to Egypt on Friday.
Over 90 individuals on the list of the Palestinian border authority are identified as British citizens in the UK section.
The parents of Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf’s spouse were stuck in Gaza since 7 October, but now they have been able to exit through the Rafah crossing, according to his office.
Approximately 200 people from Britain are thought to be in Gaza.
A few people have started to leave after some foreigners and injured Palestinians were let to go to Egypt through the crossing for the first time since Wednesday.
The border crossings in and out of Gaza have been closed since 7 October. This happened because Hamas, a group that is considered a terrorist organization in the UK, attacked Israel. Their attack caused the death of over 1,400 people and they also took more than 240 people as hostages.
After that, the Israeli army bombed Gaza a lot, blocked off the area completely, and recently attacked it on the ground from the north. The health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, says that over 9,000 individuals have died.
The list published by Palestinian authorities in the UK has 127 names. Out of these, 92 are said to be British citizens. But it is not known if the rest, most of whom are said to be Palestinian, also have citizenship in two countries.
Mr Yousaf’s in-laws, Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla, who live in Dundee, were on the list of people waiting to leave Gaza. They got trapped there while visiting their family and couldn’t leave because the borders closed.
On Friday, the first minister and his wife Nadia announced that her parents have left Gaza. However, it is not mentioned whether they have arrived in Egypt.
The couple thanked the people who helped their parents recently, including the crisis team from the Foreign Office.
“Over the past four weeks, our family has been going through a very difficult and distressing time. We are extremely grateful for all the comforting messages and prayers we have received from people all around the world, including those from various political beliefs in Scotland and the UK,” they expressed.
Security minister Tom Tugendhat said on Friday that the British government is being careful in providing an exact number of people who can leave because they have no control over the border or the situation inside Gaza.
“He said on BBC Breakfast that we should not give people fake hope or false belief that they can cross today. ”
Mr Tugendhat said there is a list of people that have been allowed to leave Gaza. Both the Egyptian and Israeli governments have agreed to it.
He said the list has been approved by the UK government and includes British citizens, as well as their dependents or entitled individuals.
The UK has sent a team of Border Force officers to Cairo and consular officials to Arish, near Rafah. They are there to help UK citizens who have left Gaza.
Surgeon Abdel Hammad, who lives in Liverpool, was able to leave through the Rafah crossing into Egypt on Thursday, according to his family.
It was confirmed by Downing Street that two people from the UK who work to help others were able to pass through Rafah. Rafah is the only way to enter or leave Gaza that is not controlled by Israel.
On Thursday, the Foreign Office said that some British people were able to cross the border between Gaza and Egypt. However, they did not say how many.
A person who is a citizen of both the UK and the US left Gaza with her family on Thursday. She told the BBC that her husband, who is British-Palestinian, was allowed to cross the border because his name was on a list of US citizens who were allowed to leave with their families.
Dr Emilee Rauschenberger, a university professor who lives in Salford, said that the situation in Rafah is very disorganized. Many people are having a hard time getting to the southern part of Gaza because they don’t have cars or other means of transportation.
On the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said that there is no process to separate people who can leave from those who want to cross but are not listed, which causes a lot of stress.
After waiting for a long time at the Gaza border, the family finally crossed over to Egypt. In Egypt, they received food and water and were checked by doctors and nurses.
Dr Rauschenberger mentioned that the British embassy informed her about 10 British people who work for aid agencies or international organizations. They crossed over on Thursday.
The UK government has given the Israeli and Egyptian authorities a list of British citizens and their family members who need medical help the most.
Dr Ahmed Abou Foul, who lives in Birmingham, said that 16 people from his family, including eight kids, are trying to leave Gaza and they are on the list for evacuation.
He feels both good and bad about the news because his sisters-in-law and their young children cannot leave since their names are not on the list.
On Friday, Dr Abou Foul spoke to BBC Breakfast and said that his family doesn’t understand why they have been left out. He mentioned that they were promised something by the Foreign Office, but it hasn’t been delivered.
