The Brazilians, who have spent the last few days holed up in a school in the Gaza Strip, were transferred this Saturday to the city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt. The group consists of 16 people, including adults and children. Itamaraty negotiates the penetration of Brazilians into Egyptian soil. Meanwhile, they wait in Rafah, which is still in the Gaza Strip.

The group consists of 16 Brazilians, including adults and children. Photo: Itamaraty/Divulgação/ND.

According to Agência Brasil, the group will initially await transfer to Egypt in the city of Khan Yunis. After entering Egyptian territory, they were scheduled to board a flight back to Brazil. However, since the group was already in Khan Yunis, the authorities decided to transfer the Brazilians to Rafah.

In a statement, Palacio do Planalto said that, in addition to “ensuring a quieter night” for the 16 Brazilians, the “small house” the government rented in Rafah is “a short walk from the border post with Egypt.” .

Although part of Khan Yunis was hit by Israeli attacks this Saturday, the remaining 12 Brazilians who were already in the city awaiting permission to cross the border into Egypt will remain there.

“They live in Khan Yunis, so they did not have to leave their homes and go to the house that the government rented. [em Rafah] for people who were at school in Gaza City,” Brazilian Ambassador to Palestine Alessandro Candeas explained to Agência Brasil, noting that the two groups are separated by approximately 13 kilometers.

“But as soon as a window opens at the border allowing immigration, the passage of our people, both groups will come through together,” he noted. In these two groups, 14 children, eight adult women and six men are waiting in Palestine to travel back to Brazil.

The aircraft belonging to the President of the Republic – a VC-2 with a capacity of up to 40 passengers plus crew – is already parked in Rome, Italy, waiting for the right moment to continue its journey to Egypt. In a statement, Itamaraty confirmed in Brasilia that he was continuing negotiations with Egyptian authorities to “allow the entry of Brazilians and their families into Egypt.”

As of this Saturday, the Brazilian government has already rescued 701 Brazilians and their families from the conflict zone on four FAB (Brazilian Air Force) flights.

The fifth plane used in Operation Return in Peace took off from Tel Aviv at 11:55 a.m. (Brasilia time) this Saturday, bringing with it another 215 people, including nine babies.

According to the FAB forecast, the plane will land at Galeão airport in Rio de Janeiro early this Sunday (15). At the same time, the total number of repatriated Brazilians will reach 916 people.

Brazilians in Gaza

The Foreign Ministry estimates that at least 15 flights will be required to return to the country all Brazilians who have asked for help from the diplomatic corps to leave the conflict region.

More than 2,700 Brazilian citizens have updated their personal details using a form that the Brazilian Embassy in Tel Aviv has posted online, but as Itamaraty Consular Director Aloisio Mares Diaz Gomid Filho (11) explained last Wednesday, not all have expressed their intention to leave the region in this first moment.

Moreover, some of them filled out the form more than once, so Itamaraty still does not know exactly how many Brazilians actually live in the region.

“We checked the phenomenon of double, even triple registration. In some cases, some people apply more than twice. We are reviewing this list, carefully combing it,” commented Gomid Filho, emphasizing that among those who responded to the form there are already repatriated citizens.