Rishi Sunak said the UK will continue to work closely with Egypt and Israel to ensure more British citizens can leave Gaza safely.
The prime minister thanked Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for his efforts to help the first British nationals leave Gaza via the Rafah border crossing into Egypt on Wednesday.
Officials said the crossing will be open for “controlled and time-limited periods” to allow specific groups of foreign nationals and the seriously injured to leave Gaza.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it has agreed, with Egyptian and Israeli authorities, a list of British nationals that want to leave Gaza.
A Downing Street spokesperson said of Mr Sunak’s call with the Egyptian president: “He welcomed the opening of the Rafah crossing today for the first British and other nationals and injured Palestinians to leave Gaza.
“The prime minister thanked President Sisi for his efforts and said the UK would continue to work closely with Egypt and Israel to ensure all British citizens can leave Gaza safely.
“The leaders talked about urgent work to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the prime ,inister updated on plans for a second UK aid flight to support the work of the Egyptian Red Crescent. He said ensuring life-saving aid and medical treatment reaches civilians by all available routes is a top priority and the UK stands ready to provide further support.
“The prime minister and President Sisi also discussed diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, prevent escalation in the wider Middle East and achieve long-term peace and prosperity for the Palestinian people.”
A spokesperson for the FCDO earlier said: “We will continue working with partners to ensure the crossing is opened again, allowing vital aid into Gaza and more British nationals to leave safely.
“We are regularly updating all British nationals registered us.
“The crossing will be open for controlled and time-limited periods to allow specific groups of foreign nationals and the seriously wounded to leave.
“We have agreed a list of British nationals that want to leave Gaza with Egyptian and Israeli authorities. We will be informed in advance when those on the list can use the crossing to ensure we can provide assistance.”
The UK has a Border Force team in Cairo, with consular officials in Arish, near Rafah, to provide support for Britons who leave Gaza.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation and what happened in Israel is horrendous by any measure.— Kamala Harris
Protesters, some waving Palestinian flags, shouted “ceasefire now” as US vice president Kamala Harris arrived in Downing Street for a meeting with Mr Sunak on Wednesday evening.
Ms Harris, in her reply to the pair’s opening exchanges, said: “I also want to thank you for the position that you and the United Kingdom have taken in terms of what is happening in Israel with Hamas.
“As we’ve both stated, Hamas is a terrorist organisation and what happened in Israel is horrendous by any measure.”
Ms Harris said Israel has a “right to defend itself”, there must be “no conflation between the Palestinian people and Hamas”, and there “should not be any intentional targeting” of civilians.
As Israel’s forces stepped up operations against the Hamas group, which carried out the 7 October atrocities in Israel, foreign secretary James Cleverly stressed the need for humanitarian aid to get into Gaza.
The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 8,525, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 122 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.
Labour has called for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to set up an appeal for Gaza, matched by taxpayer funding.
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy and shadow international development minister Lisa Nandy were in Cairo for talks about the crisis.
