Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing yesterday for the first time since the beginning of the conflict on 7 October, allowing a limited number of foreign nationals and seriously wounded Palestinians to leave the enclave. Egyptian state broadcaster Al Qahera (watch, runtime: 5:05) reported last night that more than 360 foreigners crossed the border yesterday as well as 45 Palestinians with serious injuries. The Palestinians are receiving medical treatment in hospitals in North Sinai. About 6k foreigners have been stuck in Gaza since the conflict started more than three weeks ago.

More to follow? Under the Qatar-mediated agreement to open the crossing, 500 people were permitted to leave territory yesterday. Some 1k will cross daily starting today, according to the Financial Times, citing four people it says have knowledge of the matter.

A plea for Egypt to take in more: A spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry said Egypt has agreed to treat 81 Palestinians but said that hundreds of thousands need to leave the territory (watch, runtime: 6:25). The Gaza Health Ministry is selecting the most “dangerous and complex cases” to send to Egypt as there is no way to treat them in the strip.

Egypt is not taking in refugees: Egypt has vehemently rejected plans advanced by a number of Israeli officials to forcibly displace Gaza’s 2.3 mn population into the Sinai. In the government’s strongest statement yet, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly raised the prospect of a military confrontation with Israel if it tried to drive Gaza’s refugees across the border. The Israeli military has displaced an estimated 1.4 mn people over the past 25 days.

Time for plan B? A day after leaked Israeli proposals to resettle Palestinians in Egypt made global headlines, Bloomberg published an article detailing other post-war plans being discussed by Israeli and US officials. The two allies have discussed putting together a multinational force involving US troops on the ground should Israel defeat Hamas, as well as the idea of installing a UN administration, according to people the news outlet says have knowledge of the matter. The White House has distanced itself from the narrative, with spokesperson John Kirby saying that the US has no plans to place its troops in Gaza now or in the future.

Other proposals floated by former US policymakers imagine making Gaza the Arab world’s responsibility, with suggestions that Egypt, Morocco and the UAE could provide public security services on the ground “for a new civil administration” while Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Qatar provide reconstruction funding.

ON THE GROUND-

A second attack on Jabalia: The Israeli military launched its second assault on the Jabalia refugee camp in as many days yesterday in an attack they claimed killed another Hamas commander, according to Reuters.

More than 1k casualties: The two attacks on the city’s largest refugee camp killed at least 195 Palestinians and injured 777 others, while 120 are still missing under the rubble, Reuters writes, citing figures from local officials. The death toll from Tuesday’s airstrikes was put at133 earlier in the day by the medical director of the Indonesian hospital, where the victims are being treated.

Global outrage over the attacks continued yesterday, with Jordan pulling its ambassador from Israel and the UN suggesting the IDF may have committed a war crime.

  • Jordan has recalled its ambassador to Israeluntil Tel Aviv agrees to a ceasefire and ends the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel’s ambassador to Jordan, who left Amman earlier this month due to the fears of unrest, will not be permitted to return.
  • Latin America: Leftist governments in South America have begun curbing ties, with Bolivia severing diplomatic ties with Israel, and Chile and Colombia pulling their ambassadors from Tel Aviv.
  • The UN is becoming increasingly outspoken: The UN Human Rights Office yesterdaysaid the Jabaliya attack could be a possible war crime and its humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, called it an “atrocity.” Meanwhile, the UN Child Rights Committee said it was “outraged” by the violence being inflicted on children. “Grave human rights violations against children are mounting by the minute in the Gaza Strip,” it said.
  • Europe: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrelll said he was “appalled” by the nature of the attack.

More aid enters: The Palestinian Red Crescent yesterday received 55 trucks of aid from the Egyptian Red Crescent, pushing the total number of trucks that crossed into Gaza since 7 October to 272.

More hospitals could close due to fuel shortages: The Turkish Friendship Hospital, the only hospital that provides cancer treatment in Gaza, closed yesterday due to a lack of fuel. Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest hospital in the enclave, could stop operating tomorrow, the ministry said. Fifteen hospitals and 32 primary health-care centers are now out of service due to the conflict or the lack of fuel, and the 13 that remain open have all received repeated orders from the IDF to evacuate.

The comms blackout returns: Palestinian telco Paltec said that all mobile and internet services in Gaza went down several times yesterday due to international connections being severed. This is the second time Israel has cut off communications in the strip in the past week.

  • Another 200 people lose their lives: More than 8.7k Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, almost three-quarters of whom are children, women and the elderly, the Palestinian Health Ministry said yesterday. More than 22k people have been injured, and a further 2k people are missing and could be trapped under rubble, it said. (Palestinian Health Ministry)
  • UN workers are being killed in record numbers: Seventy UNRWA workers have been killed and at least 22 have been wounded. This is the highest number of aid workers killed in a conflict in such a short time. (UNRWA)
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