Sixteen American doctors who ended up trapped in the Gaza sector after being captured by Israel at the Rafah crossing with Egypt were evacuated on Friday, the US officials reported.
"US diplomats organized the process of evacuating 17 doctors through the border with Israel," said an American official who preferred not to disclose his identity.
A representative of the US State Department explained that "some of the American doctors who found themselves in Gaza have now left the unsafe area and were brought to a safe place with the help of the US Embassy in Jerusalem".
"We maintained close contact with the groups to which these American doctors belonged, and were in touch with the families of these American citizens," said a department spokesperson.
A source involved in the operation revealed that three other American doctors who were part of a volunteer medical group decided to stay, despite the uncertainty about when they would have a new chance for evacuation.
Since the capture by Israeli forces of the local part of the Rafah crossing on May 7 this year, no humanitarian aid has been getting through from there, as Israeli military operations continue in the sector, which have already claimed the lives of more than 35 thousand civilians in the destroyed sector.
