Foreign passport holders and severely wounded residents of Gaza were transported out of the besieged territory to Egypt on Wednesday, for the first time since Oct. 7.
Ambulances transported wounded residents, with hundreds of desperate foreign passport holders also starting to flee the territory wracked by three weeks of indiscriminate Israeli bombing.
The evacuations come after Qatar reportedly mediated a deal between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, in coordination with the U.S. earlier in the day.
It provided a rare glimmer of hope in an otherwise desolate humanitarian crisis, with 8,796 people killed in Israeli bombing, according to the Health Ministry.
A phalanx of at least 40 white ambulances streamed through the Rafah border crossing as crowds of foreign and dual-national families gathered nearby, hoping to leave the catastrophic conditions of Gaza behind them.
At least two children were seen in the ambulances, one with a large bandage wrapped around his stomach, as medics examined the wounded and transferred them to stretchers.
Jordanian citizen Saleh Hussein said she received word in the middle of the night that she was on the list for evacuation.
"We've faced many problems in Gaza, the least of which were the water shortages and the power outage. There were bigger problems such as the bombardment. We were afraid. Many families were martyred," she told the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Whole families, struggling to carry their worldly possessions, rushed through the heavily fortified crossing toward Egypt, which was expected to admit at least 400 foreign passport holders and 90 of the most seriously wounded and sick.
A first group of mostly women and children arrived in Egypt, an official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as TV images showed parents with pushchairs and elderly people clambering off a bus.
"It's enough. We've endured enough humiliation," said Gaza resident Rafik al-Hilou, accompanying relatives including children aged one and four hoping to cross into Egypt.
"We lack the most basic human needs. No internet, no phones, no means of communication, not even water. For the past four days, we haven't been able to feed this child a piece of bread. What are you waiting for?"
Israel has relentlessly pounded Gaza since Oct. 7.
Meanwhile, more tanks pour over the border into northern Gaza, as Israel stepped up its ground incursion launched late last week.
Images provided by the military showed troops picking through bombed-out houses searching for resistance members or some of the 240 hostages seized by Hamas.
Israel said 11 soldiers died in ground fighting in Gaza on Tuesday, taking to 326 the number of troops killed since Oct. 7.
The temporary border opening with Egypt provided the first glimmer of hope in the flaring humanitarian crisis in Gaza which the U.N. and other aid agencies have described as "unprecedented."
A strike on Gaza's largest refugee camp killed at least 50 people Tuesday – including a Hamas leader allegedly involved in the incursion, according to Israel.
But the strike sparked condemnation from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and also further afield in Bolivia, which cut off diplomatic ties in protest – a decision Israel labeled "surrender to terrorism."
Hamas said seven hostages, including three foreign passport holders, had died in the bombing.
The situation in Gaza remained desperate, with food, fuel and medicine for the 2.4 million residents all running short, according to aid groups.
Palestinian residents told AFP they had evacuated from northern Gaza, as demanded by Israel, but were still under threat.
"We've been told people are evacuating from Gaza City towards the central area of the Strip beyond the valley, so we headed there. After 20 days, we were bombarded. Three of our kids lost their lives and we all got injured," Amen al-Aqluk told AFP.
"There is no hope in the Gaza Strip. It is not safe anymore here. When the border opens, everybody will leave and emigrate. We encounter death everyday, 24 hours a day."
Israeli officials said 70 aid trucks entered Gaza from Egypt Tuesday, one of the biggest ever daily flows, but far less than humanitarian groups say is needed.
Fearing supplies entering Gaza could be diverted to Hamas, or that aid shipments could conceal arms, Israeli security personnel carry out stringent inspections that have slowed the flow of aid to a trickle.
With fears mounting that the violence could spiral into a regional war, U.S. President Joe Biden called for "urgent mechanisms" to dial down tensions and said top diplomat Antony Blinken would embark on another Middle East tour from Friday.
Türkiye and Iran, in the meanwhile, called for a regional conference to prevent a conflagration
