More people poised to leave Gaza at Rafah border crossing

THE LATEST:

• UN human rights office says Gaza refugee camp bombings may be war crimes.
• Israel says 17 soldiers killed in Gaza since Friday.
• Some 7,500 foreign nationals due to evacuate from Gaza Strip

More foreigners prepared to leave the Gaza Strip on Thursday as its Hamas-run government said at least 195 Palestinians died in Israeli attacks on a congested district on the outskirts of Gaza City, strikes that Israel said had killed Hamas commanders.

At least 310 foreign citizens on an initial list of 500, as well as dozens of severely injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt on Wednesday under a deal between Israel, Egypt and Hamas.

Passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the United States were evacuated.

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said it is "aware of reports" of a Canadian citizen crossing from Gaza to Egypt after the Rafah border crossing opened on Wednesday to allow hundreds of foreign passport holders to leave the besieged territory for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war more than three weeks ago.

GAC said the individual crossed the border "with a third party," but it could not share more information "due to privacy considerations."

Gaza officials said the Rafah border crossing would reopen on Thursday so more foreigners could exit. A diplomatic source said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza over about two weeks.

WATCH | Some foreign nationals permitted to leave Gaza:

Some foreign nationals allowed out of Gaza, but no Canadians on list

7 hours ago

Duration 3:10

Featured VideoFor the first time since Israel announced its 'complete siege' of Gaza, hundreds of foreign nationals trapped in the territory were allowed to cross into Egypt and escape the fighting, but no Canadians were on the list of those who got out.

Pressing an offensive against Hamas militants, Israel has bombed Gaza by land, sea and air in its campaign to wipe out the Iran-backed Islamist group after its cross-border attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel said Hamas gunmen killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages.

The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes since Oct. 7.

Israel said its strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday killed two Hamas military leaders in Jabalia, an area of Gaza that was set up as a refugee camp in 1948. Israel said the group had command centres and other "terror infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, intentionally endangering Gazan civilians."

Israeli attacks be war crimes: UN

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a post on social media site X, said the agency had "serious concerns" that Israel's "disproportionate attacks… could amount to war crimes."

Gaza's Hamas-run media office said on Thursday that at least 195 Palestinians were killed in the two Israeli attacks on Jabalia, with 120 missing. At least 777 people were wounded, it said in a statement.

Palestinians on Wednesday sifted through rubble in a desperate hunt for trapped victims. "It is a massacre," said one witness.

The Israeli military said on Thursday another soldier had died in the Gaza fighting, bringing to 17 the number killed since ground operations were expanded on Friday.

WATCH| Another attack devastates refugee camp:

Israeli airstrike on Gaza refugee camp could be a war crime, UN says

7 hours ago

Duration 3:17

Featured VideoWARNING: This story contains distressing images | Israel has confirmed its airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed a top Hamas commander and destroyed militant tunnels. The United Nations says airstrikes on a refugee camp could amount to war crimes.

Amid growing international calls for a humanitarian pause in hostilities, conditions in the seaside enclave are increasingly desperate under Israel's assault and tightened blockade. Food, fuel, drinking water and medicine have run short.

Hospitals have struggled as shortages of fuel forced them to shut down. Israel has refused to let humanitarian convoys bring in fuel, citing concern that Hamas fighters would divert it for military use.

Blinken heads to Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to depart on Thursday for his second visit to Israel in less than a month. He plans to meet Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to voice solidarity but also to reassert the need to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties, his spokesperson said.

Blinken will also stop in Jordan, one of a handful of Arab states to have normalized relations with Israel. On Wednesday Jordan withdrew its ambassador from from Tel Aviv until Israel ends its assault on Gaza. Israel said it regretted Jordan's decision.

In Jordan, Blinken will underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives and reiterate a U.S. commitment to ensure Palestinians are not forcibly displaced from Gaza, a growing concern in Arab nations, the spokesman said.

Blinken will also pursue talks led by Egypt and Qatar on securing the release of all of the hostages held by Hamas.