A British surgeon who was stranded in Gaza has described scenes of “absolute chaos” at the Rafah crossing after becoming one of the first UK nationals to cross into Egypt.
Abdel Hammad, 67, a transplant surgeon from Liverpool working for a charity in Gaza, told his son Salim Hammad that he was stuck on a bus for five hours with 54 others as he waited to be given the go-ahead to cross into Egypt.
Salim, a doctor living in Goring, Oxfordshire, said his father finally entered Egypt at about 3.10pm, having set off at 5am. “He’s making his way down with the help of the Foreign Office to Cairo, and then hopefully from there will be able to travel home,” the 34-year-old told the Guardian. “I think the overriding emotion is just relief that he’s finally out and safe. I’m just happy to see him soon.”
The Labour frontbencher Jess Phillips said Britons were not getting out quickly enough, arguing that the government’s diplomatic efforts did not appear to be having “much sway”.
Another UK national waiting to be evacuated from Gaza said the Foreign Office had told him that the British government would pay for two nights’ accommodation in Cairo but would not facilitate flights. The Londoner, who did not want to be named, said he received a message saying: “Once you have passed into Egypt, we will provide you transport to Cairo and two nights’ accommodation should you need it. We are not facilitating flights from Egypt at this time.”
In another message sent on Thursday afternoon, the rapid deployment team messaged the man saying: “We can offer some support with planning your onward travel but we are not at present facilitating flights from Cairo to the UK – this is at your own cost.”
He told the Guardian: “I’m just sick that the British government has abandoned us.”
The Foreign Office said the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was being opened for “controlled and time-limited periods to allow specific groups of foreign nationals and the seriously wounded to leave”.
It said it had agreed with Egyptian and Israeli authorities a list of British nationals who wanted to leave Gaza, and added on Wednesday evening that the first UK nationals had been allowed across.
There appeared to be no British nationals on the latest list, published on Thursday, of those eligible to leave, which included 400 US citizens and dozens of Europeans. It is possible, however, that UK nationals were listed as either dual or “international” under their citizenship.
The Foreign Office confirmed on Thursday afternoon that more Britons had crossed. “We can confirm that more British nationals have been able to cross into Egypt from Gaza via the Rafah crossing today. We continue to work with Egyptian and Israeli authorities to support all those seeking to leave in the coming days,” a spokesperson said.
Only two of the 500 or so people on Wednesday’s list were British. Downing Street confirmed to the Press Association that two UK aid workers were among those who had made it to Egypt, where border force officials were positioned to assist them.
But Abdel Hammad, one of the two Britons on Wednesday’s list, was not able to cross on Wednesday afternoon because he was told the border was closed. Salim said his father and the other British aid worker on the list made their way back to the crossing on Thursday morning.
“Early in the morning they got to the Palestinian side of the border. He sent me a message saying it was absolute chaos, and nobody really knew what was going on or how they were going to process things,” Salim said.
“Then they moved them through and put them on a bus to get through to the Egyptian side, and then that’s where things just broke down in terms of communication. Nobody really knew what was going on. And they waited on that bus for about five hours until the Egyptians let them carry on through to process them out of the Egyptian side of the crossing.”
Ahmad Abou-Foul, who has 16 family members trapped in Gaza, expressed dismay that no UK citizens appeared to be on the latest list of foreign passport holders allowed to leave the strip.
The head and neck surgeon, who works across the University Hospitals Birmingham trust, said the Foreign Office had not provided any assurances that British nationals would be prioritised soon. It is thought 200 British or dual nationals are trapped in the Palestinian territory.
“There was another list just published a few hours ago; the majority are Americans, many South Americans and Europeans but still no British nationals included in that list, which is very surprising,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Abou-Foul described his family’s daily struggles as the conflict entered its fourth week, after Hamas’s attacks in Israel on 7 October in which more than 1,400 people were killed. The Palestinian death toll has passed 9,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, told Radio 4’s World at One programme that there “doesn’t seem to be much movement in getting British people out of Gaza” as she referenced Abou-Foul’s ordeal.
The Foreign Office said: “We have agreed a list of British nationals that want to leave Gaza with Egyptian and Israeli authorities. We will be informed in advance when those on the list can use the crossing to ensure we can provide assistance.”
