Canadians to be cleared to leave Gaza soon: Foreign Affairs Minister

Canadians and their families will soon be added to the list of approved foreign citizens to leave the Gaza Strip, says Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly.

In a social media post late Thursday night, Joly said that she had “received assurances” from her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen and that her Egyptian counterpart had similarly confirmed their cooperation on the matter.

Officials with Global Affairs Canada say that while the flow of foreign nationals leaving through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday has been slow, they are working around the clock to evacuate Canadians from the war zone.

Canadian citizens are asked to have documents prepared and to “be ready to depart once we are informed that they can cross the border.”

I spoke with my Israeli counterpart @elicoh1 and received assurances that Canadians & their families will be able to leave Gaza beginning in the coming days. My Egyptian counterpart confirmed their cooperation. GAC will communicate the latest information directly with Canadians.

— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) November 3, 2023

As of Friday morning, Canada has not been added to the approved list of “foreign passports” for travel through the Rafah crossing.

Joly additionally confirmed that Global Affairs Canada will be communicating with Canadians the latest information on evacuation efforts.

According to reports from Gaza officials, more than 8,000 Palestinians have died as a result of the Israel-Hamas war, 130 of them in the occupied West Bank.

This report was created with files from The Canadian Press 

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