The EU welcomes the removal of some EU citizens and other foreign nationals, as well as the injured, through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

In particular, the President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen thanked the Egyptian authorities for the help they provided to “foreign citizens, staff of international organizations and their families, including European citizens, to enter their country safely”.

“It was an important request that we made to our partners. We must continue to work together to further intensify our efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” stressed Ursula von der Leyen.

As the Commission points out, the EU has tripled its humanitarian aid to Gaza to €78 million, with the aim of allowing its partners to continue their humanitarian work.

The European Council conclusions, adopted on October 26, called for continuous, rapid, safe and unhindered access of humanitarian aid to those in need through all necessary measures, including humanitarian corridors and humanitarian pauses, the Commission adds.

The EU has launched a humanitarian airlift operation to help people affected by the crisis by facilitating the delivery of humanitarian supplies provided by partners.

Since October 16, six flights carrying more than 263 tons of aid have arrived in Egypt. The operations aim to facilitate pre-arranged aid to support the rapid delivery of aid to people in need in Gaza.

Finally, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated to offer support for repatriation flights from Israel.