Jordan Times
Friday, August 4, 2006
Jordanian citizens evacuated from Gaza
By Khaled Nuaimat
AMMAN — Jordan on Thursday evacuated 46 nationals from the Gaza Strip as a
result of the ongoing Israeli military offensive in the area.
The latest evacuation brings the total number of Jordanian citizens brought out
of Gaza during the past two weeks to 79.
Director of the Jordan Representative Office in the Palestinian territories,
Yahiya Qarallah told The Jordan Times: “This is the second evacuation operation
that the office here has carried out during the last two weeks.”
Qarallah has been based in Ramallah since the killing of Jordanian national
Khaled Radaida during an exchange of gunfire between rival Hamas and Fatah
factions in Gaza on May 22.
Radaida was working at the representative office in Gaza at the time of the
incident.
Qarallah yesterday confirmed that there are “some Jordanian nationals” left in
Gaza who have opted to stay for personal reasons.
He added that most of the citizens were visiting family members when the recent
upsurge in violence occurred.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas launched a cross-border raid on
June 25 killing two Israeli soldiers and capturing a third.
Since then, Israeli ground and air forces have laid siege to the territory,
destroying much of the infrastructure and killing at least 160 Palestinians. One
Israeli soldier has also been killed.
Following the Israeli offensive, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA)
instructed the representative Office to evacuate citizens to ensure their
safety.
Qarallah said the evacuations had run smoothly as a result of positive
coordination between the MoFA, the Jordanian embassy in Tel Aviv, the Jordanian
Representative Office in Ramallah and the relatives of the evacuated citizens.
According to Qarallah, the latest evacuees left Gaza yesterday afternoon by bus
via the Bayt Hanoon-Erez crossing point in northern Gaza.