Palestinians flee to the southern Gaza Strip along Salah al-Din Street in Bureij, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Hatem Moussa
Some 266 Canadian citizens, permanent residents and their family members had their names added to the list of foreign passport holders allowed to exit the Gaza Strip today.
Officials at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt were expected to start processing the latest batch of people looking to flee the latest Israel-Hamas conflict around 7 a.m. local time.
Another 32 people connected to Canada were able to leave the Gaza Strip on Thursday, after an initial 75 citizens, permanent residents and family members made the trip on Tuesday.
No Canadians were able to cross via official means on Wednesday because of what a U.S. State Department spokesperson described as a “security circumstance.”
Global Affairs Canada has not yet issued a statement on the latest update, but said, as of late Thursday, 550 more people were still hoping to leave the territory.
The White House announced on Thursday that Israel agreed to put in place a daily four-hour “humanitarian pause” on its airstrikes in Gaza. Canadian officials say they hope the breaks in fighting will allow more departures of foreign nationals, the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid and the negotiation of an eventual end to the month-old war.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2023.
