Israel-Hamas war: Gaza doctor says he has dozens more patients who need to cross into Egypt
The rows of ambulances in Gaza started moving towards the border crossing into Egypt from Wednesday morning.
Inside were some of the most critically wounded from the recent Israeli onslaught on the territory and this was the first chance for anyone to escape the hell of what is happening in the Palestinian enclave.
In the emergency convoy, there were 76 people – among them women, the elderly and children.
The breakthrough comes after frantic discussions mediated by Qatar and the United States – and agreed by Egypt, Israel and Hamas.
We managed to get through to one doctor in Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, who’d had the difficult job of selecting 18 of his most seriously ill patients to make the crossing.
Israel airstrike on refugee camp ‘may be war crime’ – live updates
Alex Crawford spoke on the phone to Dr Youssuf Al Akkad, from the Gaza European Hospital
Dr Youssuf Al Akkad, from the Gaza European Hospital, told us that his group was made up of 60% men and 40% women and included some children.
Most of the patients were suffering from brain injuries, spinal cord wounds and eye complications, and need specialist treatment that his hospital cannot provide.
“We are in a desperate state,” he said. “This is really a war on children, with most of the dead and injured made up mostly of women and children.”
He told us that his own hospital was in danger of running out of fuel supplies in a matter of days and he had at least a further 30 people who needed to be immediately taken across the border for medical help.
“We hope this will happen in the coming days,” he said.
Palestinian ambulances carrying injured people arrive at the border crossing with Egypt. Pic: AP
A convoy of Egyptian ambulances to take people out of Gaza at the Rafah crossing
The evacuation operation is being carried out under heightened security. We saw rows of tanks and military hardware on the Egyptian side on the route to the Rafah crossing when we were in the area.
The casualties are being taken to nearby hospitals in the north Sinai area, including Al Arish Hospital, and Egyptian state TV showed pictures of some of the wounded, including a young boy, being stretchered inside by medics.
The Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing was besieged by people, mostly foreign nationals, trying to escape the Israeli bombardment.
Read more:
Britons among hundreds of foreign nationals crossing border
What is the Rafah border crossing and who controls it?
How far has Israel got into Gaza?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Ambulances carry injured Gazans into Egypt
Strikes on refugee camp continue
The evacuations were carried out amid continued Israeli airstrikes – including on the Jabalia refugee camp, the largest in Gaza – for the second day in a row.
Sky News verified the geolocation of pictures put out by Hamas which indicated the second day’s strike was inside the camp but in a different location to Tuesday’s attack.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Jabalia refugee camp strike analysis
The images showed bloodied women and children as well as many men clambering over rubble, being pulled out of debris and carried into hospitals.
Israel says the refugee camp is a stronghold of Hamas fighters and commanders and announced it had lost 16 of its soldiers in combat over the past few days since its ground offensive into Gaza began.
Social media showed multiple pictures of Knesset members crying as they emerged from a meeting.
But amid the bombardment, a Hamas official said the hostages being held by them were under the same threat of death and injury that Palestinians are facing, and claimed an unspecified number of captives they were holding had already died in Israeli attacks.
Foreign nationals also starting to get out
At the Gaza-Egypt border, about 500 dual nationals have been put on a list approved by the five different governments involved for evacuation, as well as the wounded we saw earlier.
About 44 different nationalities – including some Britons – have been trapped inside Gaza since the 7 October atrocities mounted inside Israel by Hamas which saw more than 1,400 people killed and about 240 taken hostage.
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
The UK Foreign Office confirmed British nationals were able to cross into Egypt but they declined to say how many.
The announcement that the crossing would be opened prompted crowds to surge towards the border point – now the only exit route possible since Israel imposed a siege on the territory, cutting off electricity and water and limiting aid trucks into the area.
For the second time in more than three weeks of bombardment, Palestinians also reported internet and mobile phone networks were interrupted as the border was opening.
Being desperate to get out is understandable.
But those who were not on the list were not allowed over.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
24 hours at the Rafah border crossing
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Dr Emilee Rauschenberger on trying to leave Gaza
They included a mother from Manchester called Emilee Rauschenberger who has been stranded inside Gaza with her five children after travelling there to visit relatives.
She said her children were aged between 14 and four years old.
“We had no electricity… the food we had to go and find each day, water stopped so there’s no sanitary water,” she told the Sky News crew in Gaza. “We had to go find the drinking water… it’s very difficult.”
The Egyptian authorities say the crossing will be opened for limited periods to allow those on the approved list to move into Egypt.
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway