11 Lankans trapped in Gaza return to island

Colombo (LNW): The 11 Sri Lankan citizens who had been stranded in the Gaza Strip following the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists on Israel have successfully returned to their home country.

They arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday, the 5th of November, via a flight from Doha, Qatar, after departing through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.

Among the group, two were adult women, while the remaining nine were children.

The Sri Lankan representative office in Palestine reported that the group had initially arrived in Egypt on the 3rd of November.

Bennett Cooray, the head of the office, confirmed that they entered Egypt through the Rafah border crossing and stayed at a hotel in the country.

Initially, 17 Sri Lankans were stranded in the Gaza Strip as a result of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. However, four of them were unable to leave their location due to ongoing security concerns in the area.

Wounded Palestinians and foreign nationals began their journey back to Egypt from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing on the 1st of November, marking the first such return since the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict in early October.