Egyptian authorities, together with Israel, have authorized the departure of ten citizens flying the Portuguese flag from the Gaza Strip, two of whom were Portuguese-Palestinian, the Portuguese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday evening.
The head of Portuguese diplomacy, João Gomes Cravinho, said on Wednesday evening that 10 citizens and members of their families were due to leave the country this Thursday through the Rafah crossing, which will be opened for the transfer of foreign citizens from the Gaza Strip to Egypt.
These citizens complement the number of people on the priority list provided by Portugal to the Israeli and Egyptian authorities, he added, speaking to reporters at a hotel in Bissau.
Joao Gomes Cravinho said that among these citizens three are minors.
The Foreign Office announced late Wednesday that three Portuguese were killed in an explosion in the southern Gaza Strip, an enclave that has been at war since early October between Israeli forces and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
The Foreign Minister deplored the deaths in Gaza, adding that “one adult and two children” of Portuguese nationality died along with two family members.
These five people were included in the list of 16 people that the Portuguese government provided to the authorities for the withdrawal of troops from the Gaza Strip, he also said.
In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) stressed that the Portuguese embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv, as well as the Portuguese diplomatic mission in Ramallah and the Consular Directorate for Emergency Situations in Lisbon “are in contact with this matter.” a group of citizens, as well as with the relevant local authorities to complete a safe exit.”
“Repatriation of citizens from this group who will leave tomorrow [esta quinta-feira] and in the following days from Egypt it will be the responsibility of the Portuguese state, while accommodation and transport to the national territory will be provided,” he added.
On October 7, militants from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which has been in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007 and classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, carried out an attack on Israeli territory of a size unprecedented since then. the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, about 5,000 injuries and more than 200 hostages.
In response, Israel declared a war to “eradicate” Hamas, which began with cuts in supplies of food, water, electricity and fuel in the Gaza Strip and daily bombings, followed by a ground offensive that encircled Gaza City.
The war between Israel and Hamas, which entered its 40th day on Thursday and continues to threaten to spread throughout the Middle East region, has so far left 11,320 people dead in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, and 28,200 injured . According to the latest report from local authorities, more than 1.6 million people were trapped under rubble and more than 1.6 million people were forced to flee their homes.