CAIRO, Nov 1, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A first group of foreign passport holders is to be allowed to leave the war-battered Gaza Strip for Egypt Wednesday, an Egyptian official at the Rafah border crossing told AFP.

"A first group of foreign passport holders is going to pass through the Rafah terminal to Egypt on Wednesday," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Television channels close to the Egyptian intelligence services broadcast live images of a fleet of ambulances entering the terminal from the Egyptian side in readiness to bring out 81 seriously wounded Palestinians for treatment in Egyptian hospitals, according to Egyptian and Palestinian officials.