A hundred Moroccans and their families leave Gaza

The Moroccan authorities evacuated 112 nationals and their Palestinian relatives from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, a Moroccan diplomatic source told EFE on Wednesday. 

This group, which left Gaza for Egypt on Monday, is the first to leave the Strip out of a total of 614 people who requested assistance from the Moroccan Embassy in Ramallah, in the West Bank, to leave the enclave. 

The source explained that the 112 people left Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, which connects this Palestinian territory with the Egyptian Sinai, and then had 72 hours to leave Egypt, bound for Morocco or third countries. 

In recent days, foreigners and Palestinians with dual nationality - among them passports from Spain, the US, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Poland, India, the Philippines, Russia and Brazil - have managed to leave the enclave, based on the lists published daily by the Gaza Crossings and Borders Authority. 

Although the authority is controlled by Hamas - which has de facto ruled the Strip since 2007 - the lists are approved with the approval of both Egypt and Israel. 

According to Israel, its army's operation in Gaza, which has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, is aimed at dismantling the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and freeing hostages. 

It began on 7 October, when the Palestinian organisation attacked the Israeli territory, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping 240 others.