Hundreds of Americans and other foreign nationals desperate to leave Gaza are stuck in the region after Egypt refused to allow them to leave through a border crossing it controls.
American citizens said they have been stranded outside the Rafah border crossing into Egypt for hours Saturday, despite a diplomatic deal that supposedly allowed them to cross into the north African country, according to reports.
The diplomatic deal brokered among the US, Egypt and Israel was meant to allow more than 500 Americans stuck in the Gaza Strip to leave the war-ravaged enclave.
Photos showed dozens of women and children leaning against suitcases and sitting in the street as they waited at the border crossing.
Palestinians with dual citizenship wait to cross border into Egypt. REUTERS
Palestinians with dual citizenship wait at border with Egypt and Gaza in order to wait for permission to cross into Egypt. REUTERSEgypt has reportedly refused to let the people through the crossing unless the US and Israel allow shipments of aid into Gaza.
Convoys of aid trucks waited in line to enter, while cars waited outside the gates and elderly men paced through the crowds, according to video posted by the BBC.
A Palestinian border official told CNN that concrete slabs were being placed at the Rafah crossing by Egyptian officials, blocking all gates.
A mobile artillery unit fires a shell towards the Gaza Strip as desperate US citizens queue at the Gaza border with Egypt. in order to be allowed to cross Saturday. AP
A volunteer coordinates relief operations from Tel Aviv for Israelis still missing after the Hamas attacks near the Gaza Strip last week. Getty Images“The gates are closed, and no one is being let through,” the border official told the news outlet. “There is no crossing for any traveler or any holder of Arab or foreign residency or otherwise.”
“This is absolutely nerve-racking,” said Lena Beseiso, 57, who was waiting on the Gaza side of the border with her husband, two of her daughters and a 10-year-old grandson, in a text message seen by the New York Times. “I’m so worried now more than ever before.”
Doctors Without Borders also demanded that the Rafah crossing be open to their own aid workers who wanted to come and go into Gaza.
Hamas’ attack on Israel, which began last week, has killed more than 1,300 people, including at least 29 Americans. The death toll in Gaza has risen more than 2,200, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
