The Portuguese government wants to evacuate another ten to twelve Palestinians who have relations with the country from Gaza, Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister João Gomes Cravinho told the press in Madrid on Wednesday.
According to Cravinho, the government had a ‘prioritised list’ of 16 people with Portuguese nationality to remove from the Gaza Strip and the last one left on Tuesday. All Portuguese nationals have already been evacuated from Gaza, he added.
“But we still have several other people, Palestinians, who we would also like to see removed from Gaza so that they can be safe and can come to Portugal,” the minister told journalists in Madrid, where he attended a meeting between foreign affairs ministers from southern member states known as MED9.
João Gomes Cravinho said that there are 10-12 people who are in Gaza and that Portugal wants to take them in, for humanitarian reasons, because they have links to the country, such as a residence visa or family ties.
The minister refused to give more details because there is “great sensitivity in the dialogue with the authorities” of Israel and Egypt, the two countries on which the withdrawal from Gaza depends.
On Tuesday, a baby of Portuguese nationality was safely evacuated from Gaza, being the last of the group of citizens signalled by Portugal to leave the territory, according to an official source from the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
This minor was authorised to leave, along with family members who unfortunately died on Wednesday in a bombardment in the south of the Gaza Strip, following the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in this enclave.
Another Portuguese citizen who was included in the priority group opted to stay in Gaza, said the official Portuguese diplomatic source.
On Thursday, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced the departure of eight citizens signalled by Portugal – two nationals and six family members – through the Rafah crossing, which is open for the withdrawal of foreign citizens from Gaza to Egypt.
A bombardment in the south of the Gaza Strip last Wednesday caused the death of three Portuguese citizens, one adult and two children, and two family members, who were included on the list that the Portuguese government provided to the authorities for the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
(Margarida Pinto; edited by Cristina Cardoso | Lusa.pt)
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