First ambulances with Gaza wounded enter Egypt

CAIRO - The first ambulances carrying wounded Palestinians from Gaza entered Egypt via the Rafah crossing on Wednesday, an Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Live footage shown on television stations close to Egyptian intelligence showed Egyptian nurses and first-aiders examining wounded Palestinians then carrying them on stretchers to Egyptian ambulances.

At least one child was visible in one of the ambulances, shown, with officials saying around 90 of the most seriously wounded would be allowed to cross for treatment in Egyptian hospitals.

On the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, an AFP correspondent saw 40 ambulances enter the terminal, each one carrying two people.

The patients were to be taken to several locations, including a field hospital in Sheikh Zuweid, some 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Rafah. Media reports said others would be taken to a hospital in El Arish, 30 kilometres to the west with the most complex cases referred to Cairo.

After the transfer of the wounded, Egypt was to allow hundreds of foreign passport holders to cross for the first time since Oct 7.

Some 400 foreigners and dual nationals were expected to make the crossing on Wednesday.

According to a diplomatic source, the crossing was opened following an agreement between Egypt, Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers that was mediated by Qatar in coordination with the United States.

Foreign governments say there are passport holders from 44 countries, as well as 28 agencies, including UN bodies, living in the Gaza Strip where 2.4 million people have endured more than three weeks of unrelenting Israeli bombardment in response to the Oct 7 Hamas raids.

The tiny coastal territory has also suffered "catastrophic" shortages of food, water and electricity following an almost total Israeli blockade in response to the raids.

So far, Israel's retaliatory bombing campaign has killed more than 8,500 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. - AFP