A group of Australians trapped in Gaza have taken the opportunity to evacuate after a breakthrough in opening the Rafah border for people to cross into Egypt.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed 20 Australian citizens, one permanent resident, and two family members were among those .
However, she said about 20 Australian citizens plus family members remained in Gaza. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it was assisting 65 people still there.
Among those leaving Gaza was an Adelaide family with two children aged seven and 10, who were in the middle of a four-week trip to see relatives when war broke out.
The family had their hopes of exiting via the Rafah border crossing — the only one not controlled by Israel — dashed on several occasions, but on Thursday they confirmed they had passed through.
“We made it to Egypt … will be in Cairo in a few hours,” the father said in a text message seen by SBS News.
In weekly diary entries seen by SBS News, the father wrote it had been 12 years since they had visited their relatives and had decided to travel there amid “relative calm in the region”.
What was a “really great two weeks” turned into a nightmare when war broke out , the , on southern Israel on 7 October.
Palestinians cross to the Egyptian side of the border crossing with the Gaza Strip in Rafah. Source: AAP, AP / Hatem Ali
“The situation here is completely dire. Shops are closed and we barely have enough food,” he wrote in an entry dated 12 October.
“We eat 1 small meal per day. Clean water is running out… My daughter and wife have fallen sick due to heightened stress. Our kids are completely traumatised… never been in something like this before.”
The family feared they could “die at any time”. The father wrote that one day while at a family member’s house, they received notification Israel was going to bomb a football field across the street, forcing them to flee to another relative’s.
“Shortly after fleeing, the building next door was completely flattened. We miraculously survived death with just a few minutes of difference,” he wrote.
In a later entry, the father detailed his family’s struggle when Israel’s military told Palestinians to move to the southern Gaza strip amid reports it was set to launch a ground invasion after massing troops along the border.
They were initially reluctant to evacuate, but after a building near where they were staying was hit by two airstrikes and there were “shredded bodies everywhere”, they decided to move.
He wrote they could not drive to the south because they had no petrol, and instead sheltered at a hospital overnight with “thousands” of others.
The next morning, after transport to the south didn’t arrive, they managed to get a taxi to a friend’s house in Rafah.
“Despite moving to the southern part of Gaza Strip, throughout the night we do hear bombing happening at various distances from where we are now,” he wrote.
“We try to distract the children by giving them something to play with, taking turns to tell them stories, and try to give them chores to do at home.”
In the final entry dated 25 October, the father wrote relatives had been displaced from their lifelong homes, his children feared they could “lose their parents at any moment”, food and water were scarce, and medication his son requires had completely run out.
“Our lives are at stake, and we are so looking forward to returning to Australia,” he wrote.
Wong told ABC Radio on Thursday: “We’ve been working towards this for a very long time … and I’m so relieved we have seen some Australians able to leave.
“We were prepared on the Egyptian side with Australian officials to ensure that people were met and needs were assessed. We’ll continue to provide that consular assistance.”
She said the federal government would continue working to “get as many of that Australian cohort out as possible”.
The news channel Al Jazeera reported a higher figure, saying 34 Australians were on an official list as having crossed at Rafah on Wednesday.
An Egyptian officer speaks with a foreign passport holder upon arriving in the Egyptian part of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip. Source: Getty / AFP
Qatar on Wednesday brokered a deal between Egypt, Hamas and Israel – co-ordinated by the United States – for the border crossing to open.
Wong urged Israel to listen to international calls for restraint during the conflict against Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the federal government.
“When friends like Australia urge Israel to exercise restraint and protect civilian lives, it is really critical that Israel listens,” she said.
“There are ongoing civilian deaths, you’ve seen the international response. I think the reality is the international community won’t accept civilian deaths.”
The comments followed Israeli airstrikes that , drawing international condemnation.
The Israeli military said it killed a senior Hamas commander and had destroyed “underground terror infrastructure” beneath buildings.
The significant escalation is the latest in a long-standing conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group, gaining power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006.
Hamas’ stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
– With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
