Canada’s Joly says plan for citizens in Gaza to exit to Egypt was ‘cancelled’
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A plan for Canadians to leave Gaza ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive against Hamas was cancelled Saturday due to violence at the Egyptian border, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says.
The Israeli military said in a Saturday statement it was preparing a coordinated offensive in Gaza using air, ground and naval forces, The Associated Press reported.
“We are going to broadly attack Gaza City very soon,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a nationally broadcast address.
It was not clear how many Palestinians remained in north Gaza by Saturday afternoon, said Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. On Friday, Israel gave the population of the northern half of the Gaza Strip – about one million people – until Saturday morning to move south.
Hamas – the militant group that controls Gaza and that carried out a surprise attack in Israel on Oct. 7 that spurred Israel’s current response – has urged people to stay in their homes, calling the Israeli directions to leave “psychological warfare.”
Here is what you need to know this Saturday.
Egyptian officials had said the southern Rafah crossing where its border meets Gaza would open later Saturday for the first time in days to allow foreigners out. Joly said 160 Canadians and their relatives have been trying to secure safe passage.
Joly added she had authorization on the part of the Israeli foreign minister that Canadians would be able to leave Gaza. She said she was set to speak with her Egyptian counterpart later in the day.
Families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with possessions crowded a main road heading away from Gaza City as Israeli airstrikes continued to hammer the 40-kilometre-long
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