Canadians stuck in the Gaza Strip who were previously told they might be allowed out this past weekend will have to wait longer before they can escape the besieged Palestinian territory.
The Rafah border crossing with Egypt remained closed this weekend due to the escalation of Israeli attacks and Global Affairs Canada says it has no information on the date of its reopening.
The crossing is the only exit point for foreign nationals wishing to leave the Palestinian territory, which has been constantly bombarded since the Israeli army launched attacks in retaliation for Hamas’ brutal incursion on October 7.
Global Affairs says the Israeli army has assured Canada that more than 400 of its citizens could cross the border “in the coming days” and added that three of them have already escaped with a third, but gave no further details. details.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday he thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi for supporting the departure of foreign nationals from Gaza, including Canadians and their families.
A woman whose father is stuck in Gaza says she was informed by Global Affairs Canada that citizens, permanent residents and their family members must now begin leaving on Tuesday.
But this depends on the reopening of the border crossing and Global Affairs has not confirmed the delayed departure date.
Dalia Salim, who delivers messages from the Canadian government to her 66-year-old father in Gaza, says a new telecommunications outage in the territory has her worried he won’t know when it will be safe to cross the border.
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