The complexity of removing the 120 Spaniards trapped in Gaza after several failed attempts

The evacuation of the nearly 120 Spaniards who are in the Gaza Strip is faced with enormous difficulties. As EL MUNDO has learned, in the last two days several attempts have been made to allow these people to leave the area, but they have not been successful.. Meanwhile, the Government of Spain maintains contacts with other countries and international organizations to try a joint extraction when possible, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs avoids giving details about it.. Official sources only confirm that there are contacts with both affected Spaniards and with different authorities to try to proceed with their escape.. Today it was learned that the US will evacuate its citizens from Israel on Monday by ship to Cyprus

Evacuations of nationals abroad in emergency situations are always very complex. And when they are in zones of military conflict, much more. But in this case the situation is complicated by the nature of the crisis, with thorny diplomatic factors involved, and by the geographical characteristics of the area: Gaza is a territory of 365 square kilometers, overpopulated and literally sandwiched between Israel, to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea, to the west.

The bombings in Gaza are constant. Added to this is a total blockade by Israel, which does not allow the entry of goods, food, water, electricity or fuel, while there are interruptions to telephone and internet service.

If the Gaza Strip is already a blockaded area, the Israeli military forces are currently keeping the Palestinian territory under siege.. One of the theoretically most viable exit options is in the south, at the Rafah crossing towards Egypt.. However, the situation at that point is uncertain.. The information that arrives is changing at times and confusing depending on the sources of the different actors involved in the conflict.

Egypt has denounced in recent days that the vicinity of the crossing has been bombed by Israel, which has caused interruptions in the operations of the border crossing, although Cairo stated yesterday that it maintains that the crossing remains open to “traffic”, without giving more. details. In turn, sources from the Egyptian television Al Qahera News – close to the Intelligence of this country – cited by the Efe agency indicated that the Egyptian authorities have decided to reject the entry into their country of foreigners residing in Gaza if they are not allowed. in turn the entry of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.

According to testimonies cited by this same Egyptian media, an undetermined group of foreign citizens waited for several hours yesterday at the border crossing without obtaining any response from the Egyptian authorities.

The coordinator of the Spanish community in Gaza, Salah al Sousi – who already coordinated the evacuation of Spaniards from Gaza in 2008 and 2014 – assured the Efe agency yesterday that “the situation is very difficult” and that people who want to leave the area are each heading on their own towards Rafah from different parts of Gaza, although “there is no specific meeting point.”

ISRAEL'S ULTIMATE

A week after the multiple attack perpetrated by Hamas in Israeli territory, the population remaining in Gaza is preparing for an imminent invasion of Israeli troops since yesterday the ultimatum given by the Government for civilians in the area ended. north of the Strip move southward.

The absence of embassies, consulates and diplomatic structures complicates, on the other hand, the preparation of possible evacuation operations.. Furthermore, the situation of electricity outages means that civilians do not have the facility to communicate their situation or receive instructions.. And physical movement within Gaza itself is becoming increasingly impossible, with thousands of people trying to flee in streets constantly threatened by bombs and blocked by the rubble of destroyed buildings.