After weeks in besieged Gaza, foreign nationals, wounded Palestinians allowed to leave
LA TimesHundreds of dual passport holders and dozens of seriously injured Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza on Wednesday after more than three weeks under siege, while Israeli airstrikes destroyed apartments in a densely populated area for a second day. The first people to leave Gaza — other than four hostages released by Hamas and another rescued by Israeli forces — crossed into Egypt, escaping the territory’s growing misery as bombings drive hundreds of thousands from their homes, and food, water and fuel run low. Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi, who is also the foreign minister, said the return of the ambassadors to their posts is linked to Israel “stopping its war on Gaza … and the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing.” He warned of the potential of the conflict to spread, threatening “the security of the entire region.” Israeli ground forces were pushing to the outskirts of Gaza City, days after launching a new phase of the war that Israel’s leaders say will be long and difficult. Amid the deteriorating circumstances, six buses carrying 335 foreign passport holders left Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt as of mid-afternoon Wednesday, according to Wael Abu Omar, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Crossings Authority. In congressional testimony on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken suggested that “at some point, what would make the most sense is for an effective and revitalized Palestinian Authority to have governance and ultimately security responsibility for Gaza.” Hamas drove the authority’s forces out of Gaza in a week of heavy fighting in 2007, leaving it with limited control over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.