Erez Crossing
Photo: Tzafrir Abyov
Sixty-five US citizens, many of Palestinian origin, left violence-torn Gaza on Saturday in a convoy escorted by US diplomatic officials. Many had been staying with relatives in Gaza and cut short their visits, spooked by the fighting.
Stepping Up Offensive
Ali Waked
At least five Palestinians wounded by IDF fire as army intensifies operations in Gaza, Palestinian sources report; IDF tank forces enter Gaza through Karni Crossing, advance on Zeitoun and Sajiya quarters on Gaza City outskirts, impose lockdown on crowded neighborhoods and block main road
The US visitors left Gaza City in three white UN buses before dawn. After daybreak, they passed through the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel, with Israeli officials checking the travelers' American passports against lists prepared by the US Consulate in Jerusalem.
On the Israeli side of Erez, they boarded two buses and were to be driven from there to Jordan, for a flight home, said Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, a consulate spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman said it took nearly two weeks to arrange the exodus. She said about 150 Palestinian Americans had contacted the consulate, asking for help in getting out of Gaza.
One US Citizen at the crossing, who gave her name as Haula Luzan, said she and her three children had been frightened by the sound of shelling and stun grenades.
"It's very bad. People are scared from the bombings ... Sound bombs at night," She said. "That's what made us go out."