Canadians still not cleared to leave Gaza, Blair says movement likely in coming days

By The Canadian Press on November 3, 2023.

OTTAWA – Defence Minister Bill Blair says he thinks Canadians will be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip in “the coming days,” but shared no specific timeline this morning as Canadians faced another day of being left off the list.

Groups of people, including foreign nationals from several other countries, have been allowed to exit the Palestinian territory through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the last two days, but Canadians have so far been excluded from the lists of those approved.

There are more than 450 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their family members who want to leave Gaza, which has been under siege and regular bombardment by Israel for more than three weeks.

Speaking in Ottawa today, Blair said there is “no specific impediment” to getting those people out, but that the Canadian government is working closely with Israel, Egypt, the United States and the United Kingdom.

He also says Canadian consular officials will be ready to help people as soon as they cross into Egypt.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, calling once again for a humanitarian pause.

Netanyahu says that will not happen until Hamas releases the hostages taken during surprise attacks on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly issued a late Thursday update on X, the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter, saying she has spoken with her counterpart in Israel, Eli Cohen, about the matter.

She said she also received confirmation of Egypt’s co-operation.

While the flow of foreign nationals leaving Gaza through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday has been slow, officials with Global Affairs Canada say they are working around the clock to evacuate Canadians from the war zone.

They are asking Canadians to get their documents and “be ready to depart once we are informed that they can cross the border.” However, as of early Friday morning, Canada had not been added to the official approval list of “foreign passports” for travel through the Rafah crossing.

Joly’s message also noted that Global Affairs Canada would communicate the latest information directly with Canadians.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them civilians slain in the initial Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which Canada has listed as a terrorist organization since 2002. In addition, around 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry claims Israel’s military response has killed more than 9,000 Palestinians.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2023.

– With files from The Associated Press.

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