US citizens trying to leave Gaza issued security alert over border crossing

U.S. citizens have been warned of a chaotic transit from Gaza into Egypt after the announcement that the Rafah crossing would open on Saturday.

The U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs, which engages with the Palestinian people, said in a statement that it had information the Rafah crossing would reopen at 10 a.m. local time. However, it was not clear for how long the border post would stay open.

Many people are likely to try to cross the border, and American citizens “should expect a potentially chaotic and disorderly environment on both sides of the crossing,” said the U.S. Office for Palestinian Affairs, which Newsweek has contacted for comment via email.

The mission added that the situation at the border “remains dynamic and fluid and the security environment is unpredictable.”

There are an estimated 600 Palestinian-Americans in Gaza, and they have been advised to assess their personal safety before heading towards the border, as well as to keep the mission informed about their current location.

The only border crossing out of Gaza had been closed amid appeals from the international community to reopen it to allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory, which has been under siege from Israel.

This followed the attack by Hamas militants on October 7 in southern Israel, which killed 1,400 people. The Israelis kept up heavy bombardment of targets in Gaza on Friday night, which so far have killed 4,137 people, according to Reuters.

On Saturday, Egyptian television showed aid trucks starting to enter the Palestinian side of the crossing. Twenty of the vehicles were allowed into Gaza as per the arrangement worked out by the U.S., Israel and Egypt.

The deliveries will go to the Palestinian Red Crescent organization, and the Israeli government wants proof that the aid is not seized or diverted by Hamas, before authorizing further deliveries.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that its supplies including trauma and chronic-disease medicines and basic essential medicines “will finally be moving towards Gaza.”

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly posted on X that the aid “cannot be a one off,” and a UN official has said that the next convoy might not be allowed to cross until Monday.

It comes as Hamas freed Americans Judith Tai Raanan, 59, and her daughter Natalie, 17, who were among around 200 people kidnapped during its attack on southern Israel two weeks ago.

An image shows the two women were flanked by three Israeli soldiers and holding hands with Israeli former military commander and author Gal Hirsch. Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for Hamas’ armed wing, said the pair were freed partly “for humanitarian reasons” in response to Qatari mediation efforts.

Following their release, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “we are not giving up on the effort to return all abducted and missing people.”