More than 300 US residents evacuated from Gaza, says White House

The White House on Sunday (Nov 5) said that more than 300 US residents and Americans were evacuated from the war-torn Gaza Strip as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas intensifies.

The evacuations that were carried out in the recent days were a result of "pretty intensive negotiations with all sides relevant to this conflict," White House Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer told CBS News.

He further stated that despite these efforts, it is believed that there are still "a number" of Americans trapped inside Gaza.

"This is obviously a major priority and one that we're going to continue to work out until every American who wants to leave is able to do so," Finer said.

He also said the US officials were working hard to secure the release of hostages held captive by Hamas in the war.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there were about 400 American citizens and their family members, adding up to around 1,000 people, who wanted to escape Israeli bombardment.

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which is the only passage in and out of the besieged Palestinian enclave not controlled by Israel, opened up on Wednesday after weeks of violence, allowing several injured Palestinians and people with dual nationality to leave.

Evacuations of wounded Gazans and foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing to Egypt have been suspended since Saturday (Nov 4) after Hamas demanded Israel to let some injured Palestinians reach Rafah so they can cross the border for hospital treatment.

However, Egypt, US and Qatari officials said that they were making efforts to resume the evacuations.

A senior White House official on Friday (Nov 3) accused Hamas of abusing a US-brokered deal to open the crossing to get its fighters out of conflict-torn Gaza.

Sunday's latest count of evacuated Americans comes after the White House said nearly 80 US citizens and their family members had left Wednesday and Thursday.

(With inputs from agencies)