The British Foreign Office announced on Wednesday that the first batch of British citizens had crossed into Egypt from Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

The Foreign Office stated that it had coordinated with Israeli and Egyptian authorities to compile a list of British nationals who wish to leave Gaza and that it would notify those individuals ahead of time when they are permitted to use the crossing.

James Cleverly, the foreign secretary of Britain, described Wednesday's crossing as "a hugely important first step" on the social media platform X.


"We are working with Egyptian and Israeli authorities to ensure the crossing stays open so all British nationals can get to safety in the coming days," he wrote.

Britain said that it had representatives helping people on the ground and would send them to a reception center in Cairo, where they would be given access to food and water and could communicate with their families.

It also stated that those teams will assist in arranging for passengers to continue their journey on commercial aircraft, including providing emergency travel documents.