“This mission is accomplished. There are others,” Palestinian ambassador tells CNN

After the departure of 32 Brazilians from the Gaza Strip, more than a month after the start of the conflict, Brazil’s representative in Palestine, Ambassador Alessandro Candeas, celebrated the group’s departure. However, he stressed that the work in the region is not yet finished.

“Mission accomplished. It is. There are more,” Candeas said CNN this Sunday morning (12) while the group of Brazilians was already in Egypt.

The list of names of the first parties interested in leaving Gaza was sent to the Egyptian and Israeli authorities the day after the start of the conflict, on October 7. Since then, Brazilian diplomacy has launched calls for the release of the group, without success.

Over the past month, the Brazilian Representation in Palestine has hosted Brazilians in a Catholic school in northern Gaza. Then, with Israel’s determination to force civilians out of the region, the Brazilians were taken on a bus south, where they were housed in Rafah, near the border. Another part of the group was in the town of Khan Yunis, at the homes of family members.

In addition to this first group which managed to leave Gaza 35 days after the start of the conflict, there is a second list which includes between 40 and 50 people interested in leaving the region.

These are Brazilians and close relatives who have expressed interest in repatriation after the escalation of the conflict and the humanitarian crisis. So this is after the documents of this first group of 34 people who requested to leave Gaza were sent in the first days of the war in October.

According to CNNthis second group cannot be included in the list of Brazilians allowed to leave Rafah, because the authorities involved in the negotiations – Israel and Egypt – are not receiving new departure requests at the moment.

The Brazilian Representation in Palestine is also monitoring the escalation of tensions in the West Bank, from where 32 people have already been rescued.