Photos: A look at the scene of the Rafah border crossing opening

By Virginia Lozano,

Published November 1, 2023 at 9:27 AM EDT

Scores of foreign passport holders trapped in Gaza started leaving the war-torn Palestinian territory on November 1 when the Rafah crossing to Egypt was opened up for the first time since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

A first group of foreign passport holders have left Gaza.

It's the first time that that's happened since Oct. 7. They are currently inside the terminal at the Rafah border crossing and are waiting to cross into Egypt.

The into Egypt is the only land crossing in and out of Gaza, not controlled by Israel. And typically after civilians pass all the checks on the Palestinian side there, take a bus or a car a few hundred yards before they can go through to the Egyptian side and cross into Egypt.

Wounded people, along with about 500 foreign or dual nationals and aid workers are expected be allowed to leave Gaza and enter Egypt on Wednesday, according to officials in Gaza.

We take a look at the scene:

Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at Rafah, Gaza Strip.

An injured man lies inside an ambulance waiting at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip before receiving medical care in Egypt.

On the other side of the Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt ambulances waited to evacuate critically injured people from the besieged territory, where Israeli airstrikes have killed thousands.

A child looks through glass, as Palestinians with dual citizenship wait at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on November 1, 2023.

People enter the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip before crossing into Egypt.

Palestinian health ministry paramedics check the travel documents of a person waiting to cross to Egypt at the Rafah border crossing.

Ambulances with Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip arrive at Rafah border crossing to Egypt.

People walk through a gate to enter the Rafah border crossing to Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip.

A journalist stands by as Palestinian health ministry ambulances cross the gate to enter the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip before crossing into Egypt.

Crowds of people showed up on the Palestinian side of the border, including children. They gathered at the terminal separating Egypt from Gaza, many of them carrying suitcases and some with donkey-pulled carts loaded with luggage.

Palestinians wait to cross into Egypt at Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023.

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Elissa Nadworny

Elissa Nadworny reports on all things college for NPR, following big stories like unprecedented enrollment declines, college affordability, the student debt crisis and workforce training. During the 2020-2021 academic year, she traveled to dozens of campuses to document what it was like to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. Her work has won several awards including a 2020 Gracie Award for a story about student parents in college, a 2018 James Beard Award for a story about the Chinese-American population in the Mississippi Delta and a 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in innovation.

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