No Dutch on list of people allowed to leave Gaza Strip; Good that people can leave: Min.

A list from the Gaza border authorities is circulating, containing the names of people allowed to leave the Gaza Strip and cross the border into Egypt. None of the people on the list have Dutch nationality. It is unclear whether that means that none of the 27 Dutch people in the Gaza Strip will be able to cross the border into Egypt on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not provide any clarification.

Outgoing Minister Hanke Bruins Slot (Foreign Affairs) still called it good news that the first injured and foreign citizens could leave Gaza via Egypt. “We are in close contact with the Dutch in Gaza and their immediate family members about this, she said on X. According to Bruins Slot, a foreign Affairs team is ready to receive Dutch people at the border “if they can cross.”

On Tuesday evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that it had informed the Dutch people in Gaza and their immediate family members about reports of a possible border opening between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The first foreigners indeed left the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning. About 400 foreigners and people with dual nationality could take advantage of the border opening. In addition, approximately 90 sick and injured people could leave Gaza, according to the AFP news agency.

A Palestinian cameraman who regularly works for NOS told the broadcaster from the border that the Palestinian Ministry of Interior put the list with people allowed to cross the border online last night. “The Ministry will do that every day from now on, I understand. But the people here object to that because there is very little to no internet in Gaza, so they cannot see the lists,” he said.

NSC wants Dutch government to send help to Gaza

The outgoing Cabinet must investigate whether a Dutch naval ship can help alleviate the humanitarian need in the Gaza Strip as soon as there is a humanitarian pause, Caspar Veldkamp of the NSC said in the radio program Sven op 1.

France is sending a naval ship to support hospitals in the Gaza Strip, French President Emmanual Macron said last week. The densely populated Gaza Strip, with over 2 million residents, has been heavily bombed since the attack by the Palestinian militant movement Hamas on Israel on October 7. The death toll in the Gaza Strip is over 8,000, mainly children and women.

“We also have amphibious transport ships in the navy, the Johan de Witt and the Rotterdam. Let’s see if one of those ships can be made available. Let’s see if that is militarily possible,” said Veldkamp, who served as the Dutch ambassador in Tel Aviv from 2011 to 2015.