Australians trapped in Gaza escape after border opening

Australians trapped in Gaza are among hundreds of foreign nationals who have seized the chance to escape after a breakthrough in opening the Rafah crossing into Egypt.

Qatar brokered a deal between Egypt, Hamas and Israel –  co-ordinated by the US – for the border to open.

It will allow foreign passport-holders to leave the Gaza Strip war zone, which Israel has bombarded with air strikes in response to the Hamas attack on October 7.

So far on Thursday morning (AEDT), 23 Australians have made it out, according to reports.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade  spokesperson said the government was helping 88 people in Gaza, including Australians and their family members.

“We understand the situation is extremely distressing for them and their loved ones,” they said.

DFAT said it was in contact with people about departure options, including the “possibility of the opening of the Rafah border on 1 November”.

“Consular officials in Cairo are ready to provide support to those Australians and their family members who cross into Egypt,” the spokesperson said.

Media reports on Thursday said Australian citizens were among the first batch of foreign passport holders cleared to leave the Gaza Strip before being taken to Cairo airport.

At least 320 foreign passport holders and some injured Gazans were among those leaving the Palestinian enclave.

An initial list of 500 foreign passport holders, including 81 wounded, were expected to be allowed out of the Gaza Strip in the coming days.

A diplomatic source briefed on Egyptian plans said 7500 foreign passport holders would be allowed to leave Gaza over the course of about two weeks, adding that Al Arish airport would be made available to fly people out.

Diplomats said initial foreign citizen evacuees were expected to travel by road to Cairo and fly out from there.

The breakthrough came as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, almost a month after the terror group launched a horrific attack that killed more than 1400 people.

The federal government has reaffirmed its support for Israel’s right to defend itself but has called for restraint to avoid the deaths of civilians.

The leaders’ conversation followed Israeli air strikes that levelled apartment buildings at a refugee camp in Gaza, drawing international condemnation.

The Israeli military said it killed a senior Hamas commander and had destroyed “underground terror infrastructure” beneath buildings.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said at least 50 people were killed in the Jabaliya refugee camp.

An Amnesty International spokeswoman said under international law, parties cannot carry out attacks that cause disproportionate harm to civilians.

“Amnesty is calling for an immediate ceasefire to halt the mounting civilian death toll and for international humanitarian law to be upheld so civilians can be protected,” she said.

Rafah border crossing

A Palestinian official on the Gaza side of the border said the foreign passport holders departed from the territory on six buses.

A source on the Egyptian side said they would undergo security checks when they reached Egypt.

Earlier on Wednesday, some injured people were taken out in ambulances. They were examined by Egyptian medical teams, who directed them to hospitals, depending on the severity of their condition.

Egypt’s health ministry said 16 medical evacuees had been transferred to hospitals in the northern Sinai region, 11 to Al Arish and five to Bir al-Abd.

Egypt has also prepared a field hospital at Sheikh Zuweid, 15km from Rafah, to treat evacuees from Gaza.

The ministry said medical examinations were conducted at the border on 117 foreign passport holders, and 35 children had received vaccinations.

Egyptian state-linked TV station Al-Qahera broadcast images of hospital staff lifting evacuees from ambulances on stretchers and wheeling them into hospitals, where teams of doctors were waiting.

One of the evacuees shown was a young child.

Nahed Abu Taeema, director of the Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip, told Reuters 19 critically injured patients from his hospital would be among the 81 being taken to Egypt.

“Those require advanced surgeries that can’t be done here because of the lack of capabilities, especially women and children,” Abu Taeema said.

Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7 have killed at least 8796 Palestinians, including 3648 children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Israel launched the strikes after Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 300 soldiers and 1100 civilians and taking more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli figures.