Gaza evacuees continue to arrive in Egypt through Rafah crossing

The number of evacuees moving from Gaza into Egypt rose Tuesday, a day after the Rafah border crossing was re-opened.
About 400 foreign nationals and dependents passed through the Rafah crossing Tuesday, the only border crossing not controlled by Israel, along with 100 Egyptians, an Egyptian security source said.
The border crossing was closed on Saturday and Sunday after an Israeli strike on an ambulance that was heading to Rafah. Jordan's foreign ministry said 262 Jordanians were evacuated, out of a total of 569 that had been stuck in Gaza following the outbreak of fighting there.
However, only four injured Gazans were allowed through, a medical source said, to join dozens of others who are being treated in Egyptian hospitals.
The United States said it has assisted 400 of its citizens, residents and their relatives to leave the war-battered Gaza Strip after the reopening of a crossing into Egypt.
"We have assisted more than 400 US citizens, lawful permanent residents and other eligible individuals to depart Gaza," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said, an update from a weekend figure of some 300 leaving.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a Senate hearing last week that the United States was tracking some 400 US citizens and another 600 of their family members who were seeking to leave Gaza.
President Joe Biden on November 1 publicly hailed the first departures of Americans which came after diplomacy with Egypt and Qatar.
More Americans are expected to be among the foreign nationals exiting Gaza Tuesday, the White House said.
"We do expect more individuals to depart Gaza" via the Rafah crossing, Kirby told reporters.
An initial group of some 20 Canadian nationals and their dependents have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, Canadian officials said.
"The first group of Canadians have left Gaza. Our team of officials has met them on the Egyptian side of the border, providing them with support and care," Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Officials said "approximately 20-25 Canadians" had crossed from Gaza into Egypt in the morning, out of 400 nationals registered with Canada seeking to leave.
In Ottawa, International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen told reporters the Canadians were "now safe and sound" and were expected to travel to Cairo and then on to Canada or elsewhere.
Hundreds of foreign passport holders were waiting at the Rafah crossing Tuesday for evacuation into Egypt.
More than 100 French nationals and their dependents have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, the foreign ministry in Paris said Tuesday.
"Two groups of French nationals, officials and rights holders were able to leave" on Monday and Tuesday from Gaza and are now "in safety in Egypt," the ministry said in a statement.
The departures "bring the number of exits organised by France to more than 100 people," it added.
"In the coming days, we will continue our efforts so that all our countrymen, our officials and their families who want to leave Gaza are able to do so," the French foreign ministry said.
Paris also thanked "Egyptian authorities for all of their help" in the evacuations, promising to "increase humanitarian aid sent to the population of Gaza".