Plan to let Canadians and other foreigners leave Gaza at Rafah crossing is cancelled

Plan to let Canadians and other foreigners leave Gaza at Rafah crossing is cancelled

CBC News · Posted: Oct 13, 2023 11:57 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

International exit agreement in Gaza falls through, about 150 Canadians remain trapped

An international agreement to allow foreign nationals to leave the besieged Palestinian territory into Egypt through the Rafah gate has failed, leaving about 150 Canadians trapped in the Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/rafah-border-gaza-egypt-israel-1.6994234

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Canadians and other foreign nationals who were aiming to leave Gaza via an Egyptian border crossing at Rafah on Saturday won't be able to do so and have been instructed to stay away from the area until further notice.

CBC News has viewed a message that Israeli officials sent to several Western embassies indicating that Saturday's potential window for crossing the border into Egypt was cancelled.

Speaking to reporters from Amman, Jordan's capital, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Saturday's planned Rafah crossings had to be halted due to unspecified "violence" and that she was seeking more information on the circumstances.

Joly said Israel had given her assurances that Canadians would be able to leave Gaza. It was not immediately clear when that might occur.

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