Ten Japanese nationals and their eight Palestinian family members were among about 300 foreign passport holders and others who fled the Gaza Strip for Egypt on Wednesday after the Rafah border was partially reopened.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Thursday that the 18 evacuated to Egypt by land, adding that they are not facing any health problems. Doctors Without Borders' Japan office said in a separate statement that all three of its Japanese staff members working in Gaza had fled to Egypt. They may stay a few days in Egypt, the group said.
Another Japanese national who is married to a Palestinian and lives in Gaza intends to stay there with the family, Matsuno said.
At least 320 foreign citizens on an initial list of 500, as well as dozens of severely injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt on Wednesday under a deal between Israel, Egypt and Hamas, the same day Gaza's Hamas-run government said at least 195 Palestinians had died in Israeli attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp.
Passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the United States were evacuated.
Gaza officials said the Rafah border crossing would reopen on Thursday so more foreign nationals could exit. A diplomatic source said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza over about two weeks.
Pressing an offensive against Hamas militants, Israel has bombed Gaza by land, sea and air in its campaign to wipe out the Iran-backed Islamist group after their cross-border rampage into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel said Hamas gunmen killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages.
U.N. human rights officials said strikes on the camp could be a war crime.
"Given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following Israeli air strikes on Jabalia refugee camp, we have serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes," the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote on social media site X.
The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes since Oct. 7.
Last month, a Self-Defense Forces plane was dispatched to transport 60 Japanese, 18 South Koreans and five foreign family members from Israel.
Matsuno said Wednesday that the government is making preparations to evacuate Japanese nationals from Israel again. Three SDF planes are on standby in Jordan.
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