This article titled “Israel shoots down Gaza drone – live updates” was written by Matthew Weaver in London and Alan Yuhas in New York, for theguardian.com on Monday 14th July 2014 18.42 UTC
7.40pm BST
The Iron Dome has intercepted 15 of the 100 rockets and mortars fired at Israel today, according to numbers told to Haaretz by the Israeli military.
Almost 1,000 rockets have been launched into Israel since the crisis escalated in earnest a week ago, and two Bedouin sisters, aged 10 and 13, were wounded by an explosion earlier today, in southern Israel.
Israel’s own offensive, meanwhile, has struck half of Hamas’ rocket-manufacturing sites, as reported by ABC’s Jon Williams, citing intelligence officials.
Gaza’s health ministry now puts the Palestinian death toll at 184, with nearly 1,400 wounded.
Updated
at 7.42pm BST
7.36pm BST
Britons, Americans and others evacuated from Gaza
Hundreds of foreigners have been evacuated from Gaza, including 27 British nationals and their dependents, as well as Americans, Norwegians, Romanians, Swedes and Canadians, the Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood reports.
After leaving through a corridor negotiated with Israel to the main border crossing at Ere, in the north of the Gaza Strip, the various nationals crossed into Jordan with an escort of armored vehicles.
Most of the group were British Palestinians. According to a spokesman for the consulate, there are about 120 British nationals still in Gaza, along with British journalists covering the current conflict. A second evacuation may be organised if there is demand, he said.
“The safety and security of British nationals in Gaza is a very high priority. The operation to assist the departure of 27 British nationals was complex, requiring carefully thought through logistics and liaison with the UN, Israeli and Jordanian authorities. We remain in close touch with all the Brits who remain inside Gaza,” said the spokesman.
7.20pm BST
The US advises Israel against ground offensive
The White House has discouraged Israel from making a ground offensive into Gaza, while also saying the Israeli government has the “right” and “responsibility” to respond to rocket attacks.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that the US is “concerned about the safety and welfare of innocent civilians on both sides of that conflict. We are encouraging the leaders on both sides to reflect that concern … Nobody wants to see a ground invasion because that would put more civilians at risk.”
He pointed out that the US and other nations had expressed “some hesitation about a ground offensive by the Israelis” because of fears that invasion would sharply increase civilian fatalities.
Updated
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7.13pm BST
Jordan’s King Abdullah II urged Israel to “stop targeting civilians and respect international laws”, speaking in a telephone call with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, AFP reports.
“The king and Ban discussed developments in the Gaza Strip and the monarch warned against their repercussions for the entire region and its stability,” the palace said.
With the Israeli campaign now in its seventh day, more than 170 Palestinians have been killed and 1,230 wounded.
Jordan, which has established a field hospital in Gaza, dispatched aid supplies, medicines and medical equipment to the impoverished enclave on Monday, a government official said without elaborating. The Jordanian government has described the offensive as “barbaric” and “brutal”.
7.03pm BST
Prospects for a brokered ceasefire are “pretty depressing”, a western diplomat in Jerusalem tells the Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood, who details diplomats’ ongoing sallies to find a solution.
Arab foreign ministers are meeting in Cairo to “formulate a common Arab stance”, while European, British and US diplomats have contacted “parties in the region”, including the Palestinian president and Israel’s foreign minister. US secretary of state John Kerry is expected to visit Cairo tomorrow, and Tony Blair met Egyptian president al-Sisi this weekend; his ties to Egypt and Benjamin Netanyahu make him “unlikely to gain the confidence of Hamas as a peace-broker”.
Moreover, analysts said the prospects for a brokered ceasefire look bleak in the short term.
“It’s a pretty depressing picture. Neither Egypt nor the US, the two international parties that could intervene, are interested in taking strong action,” said a western diplomat in Jerusalem. “The Egyptians are quite happy to see Hamas take a beating, and the US is being cautious and is unwilling to get into a confrontation with Israel.”
Daniel Levy, the Middle East director of the European Council for Foreign Relations, said: “A big part of the problem is that if both the US and Egypt are being standoffish, there is no one else to fill that vacuum. Europe can’t do it.”
After Abdel Fatah al-Sisi led last year’s military coup in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas’s ideological parent, has been outlawed and Egyptian attitudes to Gaza have hardened.
The US has seen no return on its heavy political investment in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process over the past year, which was led personally by Kerry.
You can read her full piece here.
6.46pm BST
Twenty-seven Britons and their Palestinian dependents have been evacuated, AP reports, along with 84 Romanian nationals and dependents.
Foreign secretary William Hague said the British left Gaza late Sunday through Israel to Jordan. Romania’s foreign ministry said its citizens arrived at an air base north of Bucharest Monday from Amman, Jordan on military transport aircraft sent by the government.
More to follow from the Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood.
Updated
at 7.35pm BST
6.35pm BST
6.21pm BST
Fifty to 100 people are marching in Jerusalem’s Old City today in a demonstration apparently arranged by supporters of far-right politics, who are chanting “the land of Israel belongs to Jews” and “no leftists, no terror attacks”. Police are reportedly present, as are opposing activists.
6.11pm BST
Summary
Here’s a summary of the latest developments:
• More than 175 Palestinians have been killed, about 80% being civilians and including more than 30, according to the UN estimate. More than 1,250 have been injured. Thousands of Gazans have fled their homes after Israel warned them of heavy strikes
• Israel’s military says it shot down an unmanned drone, and Hamas’ al-Qassam brigade confirmed it had launched three such vehicles. The drone was the first encountered by the IDF.
• Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, confirmed to Parliament that western nations are in talks with Egypt and Qatar to attempt mediation, and said both Israelis and the people of Gaza “have … the fundamental right to live in peace and security.” He expressed concern for the “disproportionate” use of force by Israel. Hamas laid out ceasefire conditions and the Arab League has called for international protection for Gaza.
• No Israelis have been killed despite the launch of almost 1,000 rockets from Gaza in the last six days. An eight-year-old boy was hurt by shrapnel from a rocket in the coastal town of Ashdod, and two young girls were injured by a rocket explosion in southern Israel.
• Clashes between Israeli military forces and anti-war protesters have left a 21-year-old man dead in Hebron. Muneer Al Bardeen who was shot during a protest at Al Samoua Junction, and is the first Palestinian casualty in the West Bank since the conflict began.
• Three Jews face charges after having reportedly confessed to the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager, whose death set off days of violent protests in Arab areas of Jerusalem and northern Israel. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the says the suspects re-enacted the murder of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir.
• Rockets were fired at Israel from southern Lebanon and from Syria near the Golan Heights drawing retaliatory artillery fire from Israeli forces. It was third such rocket attack from Lebanon since Friday.
5.52pm BST
Germany’s foreign minister and his Jordanian counterpart have called on Hamas to stop firing rockets “immediately”, AFP reports. Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the “terrifying images of dead and wounded civilians cannot be tolerated”.
In Amman to meet Nasser Judeh, and on his way to Israel, Steinmeier said: “If we want to see an end to this violence, these attacks should stop. The Israelis and the Palestinians have no substitute for peace negotiations, even if this now is elusive. A two-state solution and an end to violence are needed.”
“Many innocent people have died in the escalation … We have seen terrifying images of dead and wounded civilians that cannot be tolerated.”
Updated
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5.43pm BST
Hague speaks to Parliament
British foreign secretary William Hague has said the Gaza crisis “underlines the terrible human cost to both sides”, speaking to Parliament. Hague confirmed discussions by foreign ministers, including from Qatar and Egypt, and said the UK is concerned with the “disproportionate” military action by Israel. He continued:
The people of Israel have the right to live without constant fear for their security and the people of Gaza also have the fundamental right to live in peace and security.
“There are hundreds of thousands of extremely vulnerable civilians in Gaza who bear no responsibility for the rocket fire and are suffering acutely from this crisis.”
Updated
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5.25pm BST
My colleague Mona Mahmood (@monamood) has interviewed a resident of Gaza, who told her about life in the Deir al-Balah district under the ongoing bombardment. He calls the situation “truly catastrophic” and describes a shortages and “damage beyond anything you could imagine”.
Yousif Salim, 43, father of five
My uncle’s house in Deir al-Balah district in Gaza, which is adjacent to my house, was aimed at by an Israeli cautionary rocket yesterday. The moment rocket hit the house, it blew up in endless shrapnel and left our house partially damaged. Thank God my uncle’s family left the house a day before. All the neighbours who live nearby had to leave their houses soon after.
They were about 10 families all together, and they went to their relatives in other parts of Gaza. One of the fled families got back to the neighbourhood after few hours, their relatives got a phone call commanding them to evacuate their house too. Some of the families decided to seek refuge in schools, thinking they might be safer.
The situation is truly catastrophic, it is the hardest war that we have ever survived in Gaza. The intensity of the bombardment is unprecedented: every five minutes there is an aerial raid. You don’t know what to do between one raid and another, or where to go. All the districts in Gaza got their share of bombardment. Even the timing of the raids is incredible, Al-Nour mosque was hit at dawn, when it was packed with people for dawn prayers in Ramadan.
In Deir al-Balah where I live, it’s densely populated. If you target a house, you can’t avoid hitting more than 20 houses at the same time. The house that miraculously hasn’t be levelled might be damaged partially. The extent of the damage is beyond anything you could imagine. The ministry of labour stated today that more than 12,000 house have been damaged in Gaza since the spark of the war last week. Each house has no less than 15 people inside.
Rafah crossing has been shut down for eight days now, and food products have started to diminish in markets. I went today to buy cheese and chickpeas for the Ramadan meal, and could not find any. I got back with only some vegetables.
All the patrol stations are sealed off now in Gaza in fear of being targeted by the Israeli war planes. Traffic is almost dead except of ambulance and police vehicles. You can barely find a human being in the street. I’ve been in my home for three days, I couldn’t go anywhere because of the persistent Israeli raids.
Updated
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5.10pm BST
Two Bedouin girls have been injured by a rocket explosion in southern Israel, while Iron Dome systems intercept rockets over Be’er Sheva and air strikes continue against claimed rocket launcher locations, Haaretz reports. The Israeli daily also says an 80-year-old man injured himself while running for shelter.
The IDF has meanwhile posted a photo indicating what it says are militant weapons caches hidden in civilian positions, and Israel has returned fire on the Syrian position from which a rocket was fired near Golan Heights, according to Haaretz’s Chemi Shalev.
Updated
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5.02pm BST
US secretary of state John Kerry may visit Egypt Tuesday to discuss the Gaza crisis and push for a ceasefire with other diplomats, AFP reports, citing Egyptian state media.
Kerry called Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday to again offer help with brokering a truce, and today is in Vienna for talks with the EU and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program.
4.57pm BST
4.34pm BST
Palestinians killed in the past week now number 176, according to the Gaza health ministry, and English-language site al-Akhbar, using information released by the ministry, reports that at least 28 of the dead were 16-years-old or younger. The single deadliest strike killed 17 members of one family on Sunday in Gaza City, and more than 1,250 have been wounded.
The UN’s OCHA is also monitoring casualty figures, and released a report (pdf) as its best knowledge from yesterday’s figures, noting that 80% of fatalities have been civilians, among whom 21% were children (36 total), “raising concerns about respect for international humanitarian law.”
The report also notes that rocket fire has caused injuries but no fatalities, that aid is “urgently needed for medical supplies and medical referrals out of Gaza”. The UN estimates “approximately 17,000 refugees in Gaza are sheltering in 20 UNRWA schools”.
Updated
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4.17pm BST
Hamas has offered an outline of ceasefire conditions, but has told AFP that “no serious efforts toward a truce have been made” and that the group is ready for a “long, draw-out battle”.
MP Mushir al-Masri said Hamas would only negotiate on the basis of a set of concessions it wants to see Israel agree to.
Those include the lifting of Israel’s eight-year blockade on the Gaza Strip, the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and the release of Palestinian prisoners Israel has re-arrested after freeing them in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier in 2011.
“Any ceasefire must be based on the conditions we have outlined, nothing less than that will be accepted,” Masri said.
“We need to build on the 2012 truce and move forward. We don’t want to go back.”
Masri also said that western nations, as well as Middle Eastern countries, were involved in ceasefire discussions, but gave no details.
Updated
at 4.26pm BST
4.06pm BST
AP has appended and corrected its story about the three suspects held by Israel over the killing of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir. They have not been charged, though the suspects appeared in court today and have, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, confessed to kidnapping and burning Khdeir alive.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld initially said the three had been charged in the killing but later corrected his statement to say they had been ordered held until Friday. … The three Jewish suspects in the Palestinian teen’s killing have been ordered held until Friday but have not been charged.
*Update: the Guardian’s piece has been adjusted to better reflect Israeli court charging procedures. You can read the full piece here.
Updated
at 5.15pm BST
4.01pm BST
Rocket sirens have sounded in Golan Heights, Haaretz reports, warning people near the region between Syria and Israel, in and around which violence from the Syrian civil war has bled into its neighbors, including mortar fire.
Chemi Shalev, a Haaretz editor, notes that variables along this region complicate dangers for all parties exponentially.
*Update: Elizabeth Tsurkov, an NGO director, tweets: “a rocket fired from Syria exploded near the entrance to a settlement in the Golan Heights. No injuries.” The IDF confirms.
Updated
at 4.34pm BST
2.24pm BST
The launch of drones from Gaza represents a boost to Hamas, but not a “game changer” according to defence analyst Jeff White, from the Washington Institute.
Footage from one of the drones is reported to have been broadcast, according to an al-Qassam brigade Twitter feed.
Updated
at 3.01pm BST
1.48pm BST
Summary
Here’s a summary of the latest developments:
• Israel’s military says it has downed an unmanned drone along its southern coastline, the first time it has encountered such a weapon since its struggle with Gaza Strip militants began last week. Hamas’s al-Qassam brigade confirmed that it had launched three drones, amid reports that is due to broadcast video footage from the devices.
• Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, is due to make a statement to the Commons at 3.30pm (BST) about the crisis in Gaza, amid increased diplomatic efforts to bring an halt to the violence. The European Union says it is in touch with “parties in the region” to press for an immediate ceasefire. The Arab League has called for international protection for Gaza.
• The number of the Palestinians killed, since Israel launched ‘operation protective edge’, has increased to 175, with a further 1,280 injured, according to Gaza’s health ministry. The UN has expressed alarm about the high proportion of Palestinian civilians killed in the offensive.No Israelis have been killed despite the launch of almost 1,000 rockets from Gaza in the last six days. An eight-year-old boy was hurt by shrapnel from a rocket in the coastal town of Ashdod.
• A 21-year-old man has been killed in Hebron after clashes between Israeli military and protestors against the war in Gaza, becoming the first Palestinian casualty in the West Bank since the conflict began. The man was named as Muneer Al Bardeen, 21, who was shot during a protest at Al Samoua Junction.
• Israel has charged three Jews with the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager whose death set off days of violent protests in Arab areas of Jerusalem and northern Israel. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the says the suspects admitted to abducting 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir and setting him on fire.
• Rockets were fired at Israel from southern Lebanon early on Monday, drawing retaliatory artillery fire from Israeli forces. It was third such rocket attack from Lebanon since Friday.
• Thousands of Gazans fled their homes in two northern areas of the coastal strip on Sunday after Israel warned that it would “strike with might” against what it says are rocket-launching sites. The exodus from Beit Lahia and Attatra came after Israel dropped leaflets and sent text messages warning civilians to evacuate northern Gaza by midday on Sunday in advance of a large-scale bombing campaign.
• US Secretary of State John Kerry has offered to help secure a Gaza truce, as the foreign ministers of France and Germany were due to travel to the region. Egypt is also trying to seek calm. Hamas, said it has received US overtures through Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Qatar.
1.32pm BST
An alleged collaborator with Israel has been executed by Palestinian fighters in Gaza, Ma’an news agency reported.
Witnesses in the southern city of Rafah reported seeing gunmen killing a man in the middle of the street in what appeared to be the execution of someone suspected of collaborating with Israel.
1.26pm BST
Israel has charged three Jews with the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager whose death set off days of violent protests in Arab areas of Jerusalem and northern Israel, AP reports.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the three appeared before a court on Monday. He says the suspects admitted to abducting 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir and setting him on fire.
Rosenfeld says they also re-enacted the murder.
Abu Khdeir was taken on July 2 near his home in east Jerusalem and his charred body was later found in a forest.
Israel’s Shin Bet security service says the suspects, whose names were not released, were motivated by revenge after the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers.
Police are investigating three others for involvement in the killing. They remain under house arrest.
Updated
at 1.28pm BST
1.09pm BST
There are mixed reports about the launch of drones from Gaza.
Israel has dismissed the launch as a media stunt, according to ABC.
Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigade is reported to have claimed that at least some of the drones weree loaded with explosives, according to the Middle East Monitor. It is also expected to broadcast footage claimed to have been filmed from the devices.
Updated
at 1.35pm BST
12.53pm BST
The Arab League has called for international protection for Gaza, ahead of a meeting of its foreign ministers in Cairo, AFP reports.
The Arab League meeting comes amid intense international efforts to end the conflict, and with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas seeking UN intervention.
An Egyptian foreign ministry statement late on Sunday said Monday’s meeting, due to begin at 1900 GMT, “is aimed at finding a solution to stop the shedding of Palestinian civilians’ blood and to formulate a common Arab stance on the issue”.
So far, efforts to broker a ceasefire have been unsuccessful, with Cairo taking a hands-off approach.
Egypt had been key in mediating previous ceasefires, and brokered a truce between Israel and Hamas in November 2012.
However, ties between Cairo and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, have worsened since Egypt’s military ousted president Mohamed Morsi last July.
Morsi belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an affiliate. After removing Morsi, Egypt’s military-installed authorities designated the Brotherhood a “terrorist” organisation.
World leaders have been in contact with Egyptian officials, including President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to discuss ways of ending the latest conflict.
12.02pm BST
The number of Palestinian killed in the Israeli offensive has increased to 174, according to Gaza’s health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
He named the most recent victim as 60-year-old as Hamid Suleiman Abu Arraj.
Al-Monitor has named all 172 victims from the first six days of ‘operation protective edge’.
11.44am BST
Orlando Crowcroft in Jerusalem has more on that fatal shooting in the West Bank.
A 21-year-old man has been killed in Hebron after clashes between Israeli military and protestors against the war in Gaza, becoming the first Palestinian casualty in the West Bank since the conflict began.
A Palestinian community leader in Hebron – who declined to be named – told the Guardian that the dead man was Muneer Al Bardeen, 21, who was shot during a protest at Al Samoua Junction, 20 minutes south of of the restive West Bank city.
He claimed that Bardeen was shot with live ammunition at around 3 am, after hours of clashes that began after Iftar and carried on throughout the night. He also claimed that Bardeen, who was shot in the thigh, was kept waiting on the street for 20 minutes before an ambulance was allowed to take him to hospital.
“There were hundreds of protestors across all of the villages and Hebron city. Everyone was out on the streets,” the source said.
Palestinian media this morning reported that Bardeen died at the public hospital in Yatta, and that two other men were injured in Beit Ummar. Mahmoud Yasser Muhammad Breghith, 21, was shot in the leg and Mahmoud Nasser Juma Hitawi, 20, shot in the foot.
It also reported that hundreds of people were involved in clashes in Hebron, with protestors throwing stones and molotov cocktails at IDF troops.
Hebron was one of the most heavily-affected cities in the West Bank during Israel’s incursions into Palestinian cities that followed the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers in June. The two main suspects in the murder of the three boys are Hamas members living in Hebron. They are still at large.
An IDF spokesman could not be reached for commment.
11.32am BST
The European Union says it is in touch with “parties in the region” to press for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters, EU foreign policy spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic, said:
We call on all sides to exercise maximum restraint, to avoid casualties and to return calm. We are in contact with parties in the region to do their utmost to achieve an immediate ceasefire.
11.21am BST
A Palestinian was killed by the Israeli army in a clash near the southern West Bank city of Hebron early on Monday, AFP reports citing the victim’s family,
Relatives identified him as Munir Ahmed Badarin, in his early twenties.
They said he was shot near Al-Samua in the southernmost part of the West Bank, and died later in hospital.
Israeli military sources said soldiers shot Badarin after he and others threw stones and firebombs at Israeli vehicles passing nearby.
An army spokeswoman said earlier that troops in the West Bank had arrested 23 Palestinians overnight as part of their ongoing campaign to hunt down those who kidnapped and killed three Israeli teenagers last month.
11.10am BST
There was a temporary lull in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, during the World Cup final, according to several reports.
The International Middle East Media Centre reported that the lull lasted for 90 minutes, although the game went on for more than two hours, because of extra time.
Channel 4 News’ Jonathan Miller said the bombardment resumed after the final whistle.
Last week nine Palestinians youths were killed in an air strike on a coffee shop while they were watching the second World Cup semi final.
10.52am BST
An eight-year-old boy has been hurt by shrapnel from a rocket in the coastal town of Ashdod, according to Ben Hartman from the Jerusalem Post citing the Israeli police.
10.49am BST
Britain’s foreign secretary William Hague is due to make a statement to the Commons about the crisis in Gaza.
He is due to make the statement at 3.30pm.
Over the weekend Hague spoke to both the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli foreign minister to call for a ceasefire.
He also held talks in Vienna with US secretary of state John Kerry.
Updated
at 11.15am BST
9.59am BST
The most recent developments in the crisis are summarised in this map:
9.52am BST
A respected Israeli aerospace engineer has suggested that the Iron Dome missile defence system is an elaborate hoax aimed at reassuring Israelis.
Israel’s business news site Globes, quoted Dr Moti Shefer, an Israel Defence Prize winner, describing the Iron Dome system as a “sound and light show”.
“No Iron Dome missile has ever collided with a single rocket,” it quoted him telling Radio 103.
The rockets announced as intercepted by Iron Dome either never reach the ground, or are virtual rockets invented and destroyed on the Iron Dom control computer. To this day, no one has ever seen an intercepted rocket fall to the ground.
What lands here is what’s launched. The parts we see on the ground are from Iron Dome itself. We’re shooting at ourselves, mainly virtually. The virtual rocket was invented in order to increase the vagueness surrounding Iron Dome.
Brigadier General Daniel Gold, who initiated Iron Dome, rejected Shefer’s remarks. “Let him believe what he wants to believe. Anyone can see what the truth is here. All the interceptions to date are recorded and documented,” he said.
Updated
at 11.00am BST
9.35am BST
Hamas has ruled out Egypt as a ceasefire mediator, but says it is willing to consider Turkey and Qatar in the role, according to the Middle East Eye.
A source told the site’s editor David Hearst, the Guardian’s former chief foreign leader writer, that Hamas has also had decided to harden its conditions for a ceasefire.
Instead of calling for an end to the siege, the Islamic movement are now saying they demand the re-opening of both Gaza’s sea port and its much bombed airport.
The decision to raise the bar of ceasefire conditions underlies Hamas’ confidence in being able to weather the storm of Israel’s onslaught as well as its determination never again to rely on the opening of Gaza’s land crossings with Israel and Egypt. The Egyptian crossing at Rafah has been opened a number of times this week , but it is highly selective on whom it lets through. It closes soon after without Hamas being informed.
The source also told the MEE that Hamas is now actively “studying” the option of forming a national unity administration, comprised of all Palestinian factions in Gaza, because the Islamic movement feels betrayed by the statements and actions of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Hamas source stressed no decision had yet been taken.
Updated
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9.15am BST
Hundreds of people with dual US citizenship have been left stranded in Gaza after the failure of an evacuation plan, according to Buzzfeed.
Hamas would only allow the convoy to depart if it was coordinated through the UN, and the UN set a narrow window for foreign nationals to arrive at one of its Gaza city facilities from 6 to 6:30 a.m.
“Do you know how hard it is, for a mother with two young children, to travel in the middle of a war?” [Eman] Mohammed asked. She couldn’t find any taxis willing to navigate the bomb-ridden streets and the numerous government compounds that had shuttered whole blocks for protection. She was told she could only bring one bag, and she didn’t know what to do with her photography equipment, or photo archive. Not even a stroller, to help ferry her two young daughters, was allowed.
“No one helped me, no one answered questions,” she said.
Another US national also stranded in Gaza said instructions were confusing and “sent out at the last minute.”
The US consulate in Jerusalem said 150 people were evacuated.
Britain’s foreign office said all British citizens who registered to leave Gaza in a UN convoy have arrived safely in Jordan. It did not say how many Britons were evacuated or how many remain in Gaza.
All British nationals who registered & chose to leave #Gaza in UN convoy have now saf