A British surgeon who was trapped in the Gaza Strip for nearly a month after the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out has said he is out “at last”.

NHS consultant surgeon Abdel Hammad, who lives in Liverpool, is among a group of British nationals who were able to enter Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on Thursday.

The 67-year-old medic told Sky News he was on a bus heading to the Egyptian capital Cairo with a British family of eight and an Australian person.

Follow live: Israeli forces push into Gaza City

Mr Hammad, who had been waiting for an evacuation since the day after the latest conflict broke out on 7 October when Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities, said he entered a “no man’s land” at the border on Thursday morning before crossing into Egypt.

“At last we are out. I am on the bus… we are going to stay the night in Cairo and hopefully we can catch a flight tomorrow.

“The bus was organised by the British embassy in Cairo.”

The surgeon volunteers for the charity Liverpool International Transplant Initiative in his spare time and has been travelling to Gaza since 2013.

The Rafah border crossing, the only gateway out of Gaza not controlled by Israel, is operated by Egypt and is only opened intermittently before closing again.

The Foreign Office had confirmed earlier that a group of British nationals had been able to enter Egypt from Gaza via the crossing.

Image:
A Palestinian boy, who holds an Egyptian passport, rests next to his family as they wait for permission to leave Gaza

The total number of UK nationals who have been able to leave the Palestinian territory via the crossing since the conflict began has not been confirmed by the government department.

It is also not clear how many British people remain in Gaza but the number is thought to be in the low hundreds.

Meanwhile, two UK aid workers managed to leave Gaza through the crossing on Wednesday.

They were among some 335 foreign nationals who able to cross after a Qatar and US-brokered deal was struck between Israel, Egypt and Hamas.

Following the latest opening which allowed British nationals to leave, the Foreign Office said it will “work closely” with Egyptian and Israeli authorities to “ensure the crossing stays open so all British nationals can get to safety in the coming days”.

A Palestinian woman, holding an Egyptian passport, sits with children as they wait for permission to leave Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, November 2, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Image:
A Palestinian woman, who holds an Egyptian passport, sits with her child as they wait to leave Gaza through the crossing

The Foreign Office has provided the Israeli and Egyptian authorities with a list of British nationals and their dependants, prioritised by medical vulnerability.

Border Force officials deployed in Egypt to help UK nationals have been bolstered by the arrival of a rapid deployment team from the Foreign Office and psychosocial support experts from the British Red Cross.

On Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak used a call with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to thank him for his efforts in helping the first British nationals to leave through the Rafah border.

Read more:
What is the Rafah crossing and who controls it?
Gaza doctor has dozens more patients who need to cross into Egypt
Bewildered soldiers sob at funeral of 20-year-old Israeli

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It comes as 76 wounded people from Gaza were allowed to leave via the crossing on Wednesday. They have since arrived at a hospital in Egypt.

The diplomatic efforts are taking place as Israeli forces continue to advance through the Palestinian territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country’s troops had pushed through the outskirts of Gaza City.

Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the hope of getting permission to leave Gaza, amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Rafah
Image:
Palestinians with dual citizenship gather outside the Rafah border crossing with Egypt earlier in the conflict

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Why is the Rafah crossing so important?

Gaza’s health ministry has said the number of people killed by Israel in the territory since the conflict began has risen to 9,061, up from 8,796 on Wednesday.

Among the dead were 3,760 children and 2,326 women, the ministry added.

Official Israeli sources said on Wednesday that 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since the conflict broke out.

More than 200 hostages taken from Israel are being held by Hamas in Gaza as the conflict approaches its fourth week.