Watch a view of the Rafah border crossing as more humanitarian aid is expected to enter Gaza on Sunday 22 October.
A small convoy of 20 trucks was allowed to cross into Gaza yesterday, but the UK and relief agencies are pushing for far greater access to the territory.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said opening the Rafah crossing to allow more aid into Gaza and foreign nationals to escape the crisis unfolding there is a priority.
“We have secured, along with other partners, the supply of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing but not yet foreign nationals’ – including British nationals’ – ability to leave through the Rafah crossing,” he told the BBC.
But he said Egypt has “legitimate concerns” about the situation at Rafah.
Egypt has faced insecurity near the border with Gaza in north-eastern Sinai, including an Islamist insurgency which began more than a decade ago, although it has been largely suppressed.
Israel has ordered Gazans to move south as it carries out its retaliatory strikes on Hamas following the 7 October raids.
This has increased pressure at the border crossing, which has been largely closed since the Israel-Hamas war flared up.
