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
OTTAWA – 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 on Friday.
But by mid-afternoon on Friday, as evening fell on the region, Global Affairs Canada had yet to confirm whether any Canadians had made it to Egypt, despite offering multiple updates on previous days.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was urging Canadians to support each other on Friday, citing a rise in tension and violence at home.
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 at around 7 a.m. local time.
Another 32 people connected to Canada had been 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 said that 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 said 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.
U.S. President Joe Biden said the promise of daily pauses came after he called on Israel to withhold bombardment for three or more days in the hopes that Hamas would release hostages, though he said there was “no possibility” of a ceasefire.
Foreign nationals in the territory are fleeing a worsening humanitarian situation and constant Israeli airstrikes. The bombardment is in retaliation for brazen Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants, who killed 1,400 Israelis and kidnapped 239 people.
The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory has said the bombardment has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians. Another 2,650 people have been reported missing.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “far too many” Palestinians have died, and he told reporters in New Delhi that Israel is not doing enough to avoid civilian casualties.
American officials have said the recent resumption of some water supplies and food shipments has yet to meet a huge demand for essentials.
Separately, United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk called on Friday for an investigation into what he called Israel’s “indiscriminate” bombardment and shelling” in densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip.
The images of airstrikes in Gaza have loomed large in rowdy protests in Canada, and Trudeau said he’s concerned about Jews and Muslims being targeted.
He didn’t cite any specific examples, but Montreal police have said two Jewish schools were hit by gunshots, while a series of brawls at Concordia University led to three people being injured and one arrested.
“What’s happening in the Middle East right now is causing a lot of devastating emotions – fear, anger, grief – on all sorts of different communities, but particularly both the Muslim and the Jewish communities across Canada,” Trudeau told reporters in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
“We all need to be extremely concerned about the rise in tensions, the rise in threats of violence, the rise in actual acts of violence and the rise in hatred.”
Trudeau noted that in recent years, Muslims have shown up to support Jewish people after attacks at synagogues, and Jewish people have done the same after violence occurred at mosques.
“Canadians stand up for each other. We hear each other’s pain and grief and support each other.”
The Canadian government says that people connected to Canada who manage to leave Gaza will be allowed to stay in Egypt for up to three days.
Canadian officials are providing them with accommodation and basic essentials during that time.
“We’re ready on the other side of the Egyptian border to assist and support Canadians that are evacuated,” Joly said Thursday.
She added that Canada cannot control whether the border crossing is open or not, or “who crosses and when.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2023.
