More than a week after a deadly Hamas attack on Israel, Ottawa has begun evacuations of Canadians in the West Bank. But uncertainty remains about whether those waiting at the Rafah Gate border crossing between Egypt and Gaza will be able to get through.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Monday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that evacuations of Canadians from West Bank to Jordan had begun, one day earlier than originally anticipated.
Meanwhile, many remain in limbo at the Rafah Gate crossing in the south of Gaza. Israel last week told the population of northern Gaza — roughly one million people — to leave ahead of an expected ground offensive against Hamas after its fighters rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Here is what you need to know this Monday.
West Bank evacuations into Jordan begin: Joly
On Saturday, Joly announced Ottawa had struck a deal with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan for Canadians in the West Bank to be evacuated by bus. Roughly 335 Canadians are in that area, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) officials said Friday.
GAC officials then said in an update Sunday that 454 Canadians have registered with the government as being in the West Bank and Gaza. There are more than 6,851 Canadians registered as being in in Israel and 14,544 in Lebanon.
GAC officials have been in the region working to evacuate Canadians seeking assistance. GAC said Sunday hundreds of Canadians have left Israel to date on Canadian flights to Athens.
GAC did not reveal an exact figure, but said Canadian evacuation flights have carried more than 1,000 passengers of various nationalities out of the country so far.
Rafah Gate remains closed
All eyes were on the Rafah Gate crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Monday. Gaza’s only connection to Egypt was shut down nearly a week ago amid Israeli airstrikes.
Thousands have flocked to the area ahead of an Israeli ground offensive and warnings from Israel to evacuate the northern part of Gaza. Furthermore, the WHO has said life-saving assistance for 300,000 patients is currently awaiting entry through Rafah.
Palestinians wait to cross to the Egyptian side at Rafah border, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023.
Hatem Ali/AP
With food, fuel and water running short in Gaza after Israel imposed what it called a “complete siege” on the territory, that aid has been held up in Egypt pending a potential deal for its safe delivery to Gaza, and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders.
Egypt has said the crossing was rendered inoperable due to Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday the Israeli government had yet to take a stance that allowed the crossing to open.
Meanwhile, an Israel Defense Forces official said Sunday that Hamas is “trying to prevent” people from fleeing Gaza, as civilians try to seek safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive.
Lt.-Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesperson for the IDF, told The West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson on Sunday morning that there is “ongoing movement from north to south, which is a good thing because Hamas has been trying to prevent that.”
“They actually established roadblocks to prevent it. Yesterday, they orchestrated an explosive, what appears to be an explosive device, on the route of the evacuation. And they actually tried to blame that attack on Israel,” Lerner said.
“Israel had nothing to do with the deaths of people in the convoy that happened two days ago.”
U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday morning that the U.S. government has told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to open the border and let Americans out of Gaza. However, he said Hamas is presenting a challenge.
“The Egyptians have in fact agreed to allow Americans to depart, to get safe passage through the Rafah crossing. The Israelis agreed to ensure that the area around there would be safe, at least as far as they were able to do so. The question when we tried to move a group yesterday was actually Hamas taking steps to try and stop that from happening,” Sullivan said.
GAC officials said Sunday that Ottawa continues to work with its regional partners to get the crossing open. Joly said Saturday that 160 Canadians and their relatives in Gaza have been trying to secure safe passage.
White House officials are hoping Rafah can be opened for a few hours later on Monday, White House spokesman John Kirby said in an interview with CNN.
The United States had told its citizens in Gaza to go to the crossing. The U.S. government estimates the number of dual-citizen Palestinian-Americans in Gaza at 500 to 600.
— with files from The Associated Press and Reuters
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