Photo/Illutration Palestinians cross to the Egyptian side of the border crossing with the Gaza Strip in Rafah on Nov. 1. (AP Photo)

Ten Japanese nationals and their eight Palestinian family members fled besieged Gaza on Nov. 1, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said at a Diet committee session on Nov. 2. 

They were among hundreds of foreigners evacuated through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.

Border crossing authorities have published a list of some 500 foreign passport holders who were allowed to leave.

All the Japanese citizens who wished to flee Gaza have been able to do so.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said that one Japanese remains in Gaza.

“That person, who has a Palestinian family and Palestinian citizenship, does not wish to leave the besieged enclave at the moment,” Matsuno said at a news conference the same day.

Since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out last month, the government has been in contact with a small number of Japanese nationals who worked for international agencies and nongovernmental organizations in Gaza.

“The situation of the conflict remains highly volatile,” said Yoichi Fukazawa, parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs, as he gave a briefing on the evacuation efforts in a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Nov. 2.

The government will dispatch a second Self-Defense Forces aircraft to evacuate Japanese nationals in Israel as early as Nov. 2, with some 50 people expected to board the flight.

Due to the cancellation of all commercial flights between Tokyo and Tel Aviv since Oct. 30, the Japanese government has been offering evacuation flights to its citizens in Israel.

(This article was written by Shino Matsuyama and Anri Takahashi.)

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