“It has been a top priority”: US on evacuating its citizens, foreign nationals trapped inside Gaza

Washington DC: The US State Department on Wednesday (local time) said that their top priority is to get the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip open, not just for trucks coming in, but for US citizens and other foreign nationals coming out.

During the press briefing, State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said, “It has been a top priority for the United States to get Rafah open, not just for the trucks coming in, but for US nationals and other foreign nationals coming out.”

Miller said that US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues, David Satterfield have been on the ground negotiating the details.

The State Department said that the US wants to take its citizens and their families out as safely as possible, and the US Embassy in Cairo is standing by to provide assistance as the citizens enter Egypt.

“As a result of these efforts, an initial group of foreign nationals, including US citizens departed Gaza through Rafah today. And we expect the exits of US citizens and foreign nationals to continue over the next several days,” he added.

Mathew Miller said that the the US has contacted its citizens and their families have been asked to monitor their emails for specific instructions about how to exit.

“It has been a top priority”: US on evacuating its citizens, foreign nationals trapped inside Gaza

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— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) November 1, 2023

“We can get the US citizens and their families out as safely as possible. In the past 24 hours, we have informed US citizens and their family and family members with whom we are in contact that they will be assigned specific departure dates. We have asked them to monitor their email regularly over the next 24 to 72 hours for specific instructions about how to exit,” Miller said.

He added, “The US Embassy in Cairo is standing by to provide assistance to US citizens as they enter Egypt. The situation remains extremely fluid, but this has been an important breakthrough. And we will keep working on this to ensure that all of the US citizens who wish to depart safely from Gaza can do so.”

Speaking on the humanitarian assistance in Gaza, the State Department said that 59 trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Tuesday.

“59 trucks entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing yesterday representing the highest number of trucks in a single day to enter Gaza since the humanitarian corridor began on October 21st and bringing the total number through yesterday to 217. Trucks continue to enter today and we expect today’s number to surpass yesterday’s just as yesterday’s number surpassed the day before. We continue to ramp up deliveries to Gaza,” Miller further said.

Earlier in the day, US President Joe Biden said that he expects American citizens to exit on Wednesday and more to depart over the coming days.

“Today, thanks to American leadership, we secured safe passage for wounded Palestinians and for foreign nationals to exit Gaza. We expect American citizens to exit today, and we expect to see more depart over the coming days. We won’t let up working to get Americans out of Gaza,” President Biden posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Today, thanks to American leadership, we secured safe passage for wounded Palestinians and for foreign nationals to exit Gaza.

We expect American citizens to exit today, and we expect to see more depart over the coming days.

We won’t let up working to get Americans out of Gaza.

— President Biden (@POTUS) November 1, 2023

Egypt, Israel and Hamas earlier came to an agreement allowing limited evacuations out of Gaza and into Egypt through the Rafah crossing after Qatar mediated talks.