Ambulances lined up near Egypt's Rafah crossing on Thursday (November 2), waiting to cross into Gaza where they will evacuate injured civilians.

At least 320 foreign citizens on an initial list of 500, as well as dozens of severely injured Gazans, crossed into Egypt on Wednesday under a deal between Israel, Egypt and Hamas.

Passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the United States were evacuated.

Gaza officials said the Rafah border crossing would reopen on Thursday so more foreigners could exit. A diplomatic source said some 7,500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza over about two weeks.

Israel sent ground forces into Hamas-ruled Gaza late last week after weeks of air and artillery strikes to retaliate for a surprise Hamas attack in which Israel says 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 240 were taken hostage.

The Gaza health ministry says at least 8,796 Palestinians in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes.

(Inputs from Reuters)