Israel and Egypt agree on safe passage for Americans from Gaza

Riyadh: The Israeli and Egyptian governments have agreed to allow American citizens to cross from Gaza into Egypt between noon and 5 pm. local time Saturday, a senior State Department official said.

The US government had been speaking with Israeli and Egyptian officials about the prospect of safe passage for American citizens and other foreigners out of Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt amid a punishing campaign of retaliatory Israeli airstrikes and fears that the war with Hamas will escalate.

The senior State Department official said Saturday that it was unclear whether non-American foreign nationals would be allowed to cross under the agreement. It was also unclear whether Hamas, which controls Gaza, would allow the passage. Officials from Qatar — where the group has offices — were trying to persuade Hamas not to block Americans from leaving, said the State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about diplomatic discussions.

Israel — which has launched airstrikes in the area in recent days — will enable the crossing of “pre-coordinated foreign nationals” during the five-hour window, an Israeli official said in a WhatsApp message circulated Saturday morning with foreign embassies and missions in Israel. There was no immediate comment from Egypt, which has kept the Rafah border crossing closed.

About 2 million people live in Gaza, and about 500 to 600 Palestinian Americans are there, US officials estimate. The narrow seaside strip of land has been under an Israeli blockade, backed by Egypt, since Hamas seized control there in 2007, after winning elections the previous year.

There are only two ways out of Gaza: via Israel, which has said it is imposing a “complete siege,” and via Egypt, which has adamantly opposed allowing Gazans to cross into its territory for fear of being sucked deeper into the crisis. On Thursday, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt said Gazans must “stay steadfast and remain on their land.”

The State Department official said that US diplomats were trying to send out messages, including by email, to Americans about the crossing. Some Palestinian Americans had gotten in touch with the US mission in Israel about possible exit options from Gaza, he added.

Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken — who is on a trip across the Middle East — continues to talk with officials in Israel and Arab nations about the idea of creating “safe zones” for civilians in Gaza that in theory would be off-limits to strikes by Israel, the official said.

Palestinian officials say that about 2,215 people have been killed in Gaza in the past week and that more than 8,714 have been injured.

Israel has said it plans to destroy Hamas after it staged the devastating attack a week ago on southern Israel that killed more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians.

With a ground invasion widely expected, Israel has called for 1 million people in northern Gaza to move to the southern part of the enclave. The United Nations and aid groups have pleaded for Israel to reverse itself and stop the mass movement of people amid fears that it will worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.