Brazilians reach southern Gaza, await crossing to Egypt

Sixteen Brazilians arrived this Saturday (Oct. 14) in the city of Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and are staying in the building of a Brazilian-Palestinian family. Until this morning, the group had been staying in a Catholic school in the Gaza City area, waiting for the repatriation operation to begin. The crossing was suspended by Brazil’s Foreign Ministry for security reasons, but the worsening situation in the conflict led transportation to take place on an emergency basis.

The second stage of the operation comprises crossing into Egypt via Rafah. According to Brazilian Ambassador to Palestine Alessandro Candeas, no date has yet been set for the crossing. From Rafah, 22 Brazilians will go to an airport where they are expected to be rescued by a Brazilian Air Force aircraft. Of the 22 people seeking to evacuate, 14 are children, eight are women, and six are adult men.

Brazilians are taken to the south of Gaza as part of the Brazilians government’s operation efforts – Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Relations

“The plan this morning was to go to Rafah, to the border, from there to cross the border into Egypt. Everything was ready, but at 11:30 am local time—therefore half an hour before the [start of] the journey—we learned that the whole plan had been canceled,” the Brazilian ambassador reported.

“There was the idea of an international convoy. In addition to our bus, other buses would go, together with other international officials. All this was canceled by Israel and the border was closed again. As a result, of course, our public, the Brazilians, felt very distressed inside the school.”

According to Alessandro Candeas, the situation is becoming increasingly tense. He even received information that a building next to the school housing Brazilians would be bombed soon. “In other words, once all the adverse conditions were considered, the decision was made and of course I consulted with the group, and asked for instructions from Brasília, from the Foreign Ministry, and the decision was to withdraw our staff from the school and, as we had thought yesterday, to bring them to this town, called Khan Younes, which is just over ten kilometers from the border, where they will wait for the border to be reopened. It’s much safer to wait in Khan Younis than in Gaza.”

Brazilians are taken to the south of Gaza as part of the Brazilians government’s operation efforts – Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Relations

Evacuation order

On Friday (13), the Israeli army issued an order to evacuate the northern part of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours, adding it will operate with “significant force” in the area in the coming days. More than a million people live there.

Just yesterday, bombs exploded in the region near a school where families, including Brazilians, were sheltering.