CAIRO, November 3. /TASS/. The administration of the Rafah checkpoint has published lists of people who will be able to cross the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip on Friday.
The lists published on the administration’s Facebook (a social media site banned in Russia since it is owned by Meta corporation deemed extremist by the Russian authorities) include citizens of the UK, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Germany, and the US. They also include Palestinians who hold dual citizenship. Russian citizens are not included on the lists.
Earlier, Aliya Zaripova, spokeswoman for the Russian mission to the Palestinian Authority, told TASS that Russian diplomats in Ramallah were checking media information about the opening of the Rafah checkpoint on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to evacuate foreigners. Zaripova reported that more than 900 people are on the Russian list for evacuation from the Gaza Strip, including more than 500 Russians.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking more than 200 hostages, including children, women and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.