The Valencian Raúl Incertis, a 40-year-old anesthetist, was transferred this Wednesday to Egypt after managing to enter the first list of people authorized to cross through the Rafah crossing, the one that connects Gaza with Egypt and the only exit from the strip with security guarantees. Another Spaniard, a worker from the United Nations Middle East Peace Process Coordination, is awaiting evacuation.
Both were summoned at seven in the morning on November 1 at the border crossing. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has registered 120 people in the Gaza Strip. Of all of them, the majority are citizens with dual nationality, but not all of them intend to leave the country. Although diplomatic sources confirmed to EL MUNDO that as the offensive progressed, the list of those requesting to leave the country with a military evacuation increased.
Evacuations of civilian personnel are negotiated through diplomacy between countries. In this case, it has been the United States that has carried the weight of the conversations with Egypt, which yesterday had not responded to the last verbal note of American diplomacy, however both Joe Biden’s executive and the diplomacy of other European countries They were alert, aware that if Egypt’s response was positive, the evacuation plan would begin.
Finally, it was agreed that half a thousand foreigners and 100 Gazans would leave today, most of them on their way to hospitals to treat serious injuries. If this first part of the departure passes without incident, taking into account that there is a confrontation and that Israeli troops have already entered Gaza, tomorrow, November 2, they could evacuate a thousand more people.
The Spanish diplomatic personnel stationed in Egypt are in the vicinity of the Rafah crossing, and this time, unlike in 2014, the evacuation will be done through Egypt and not through Jordan.
Within the framework of this progress in the negotiations, the acting Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has assured that the Armed Forces are prepared to “carry out any evacuation mission” in the event that citizens with Spanish nationality can leave Gaza by the Rafah border crossing, reports Efe.
“At this moment I do not know what the situation is, what I do know is that we are prepared in case citizens with Spanish nationality are in Gaza and pass that step. (…) The Armed Forces are prepared to carry out any evacuation mission,” Robles told journalists after visiting the Operations Command and maintaining communication with the commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Aroldo Lázaro.
Robles has confirmed that there are Spanish citizens who have shown their willingness to leave Gaza and go to Egypt: “From this Operations Command they have everything prepared in their case so that they can carry out the evacuations,” he stated.
The Minister of Defense has acknowledged that at this moment the situation “is very complicated, very hard, very difficult” and has indicated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is attentive to the situation of the Spanish people in Gaza.
Given that at this moment there are only two Spaniards on the list of evacuees, and members of NGOs, it is currently ruled out for Spain to send planes to the ground to remove more citizens. More than half of the people authorized to leave the country at this first crossing are Jordanians.