Qatar has mediated an agreement between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, in coordination with the U.S., which will allow limited evacuations from besieged Gaza, a source briefed on the deal told Reuters on Wednesday.

The agreement would allow foreign passport holders and some critically injured people to leave through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, though there is no timeline for how long it will remain open for evacuation, the source added.

The deal is not linked to other issues under negotiation such as hostages held by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that governs Gaza, or pauses designed to ease a humanitarian crisis in the enclave which is suffering from food, water, fuel and medical shortages, the source said.

Israel sent its forces into Gaza following weeks of air bombardments in retaliation for a major attack by Iran-backed Hamas on Oct 7.

Hamas has told mediators it will soon release some of the 200 or so foreign captives it had seized during the attack on Israel, Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of the group’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said in a video on the Telegram app on Tuesday. He gave no further detail on the number of captives or their nationalities.

Egypt has prepared a field hospital in Sheikh Zuwayed in the Sinai, according to medical sources. Ten ambulances were sent to Rafah on Tuesday in anticipation.

Israel besieged Gaza after the Hamas attack, and the U.N. and other aid officials have said civilians in the enclave are living in a public health catastrophe, with hospitals struggling to treat casualties as electricity supplies peter out.

On Wednesday, communications and internet services were completely cut off in the enclave again, Gaza’s largest telecommunications provider Paltel said.

Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas after several inconclusive wars dating back to the militant group’s 2007 takeover of Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed international calls for a “humanitarian pause” in fighting to enable emergency aid deliveries to civilians.

Fear spreads as Gaza plunged into darkness once again

Internet and phone networks were down across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Palestinian telecommunications agency said, in the second such blackout in the besieged territory in less than a week.

“To our good people in the beloved country, we are sorry to announce that communications and internet services have been completely cut off in Gaza,” the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel) said on X.

Here are the latest updates

• At least 8,525 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel.-Dozens of injured Palestinians will be allowed to leave the bombarded enclave on Wednesday via the Rafah crossing to seek treatment in Egyptian hospitals, according to the border agency in Gaza.
• Global network monitor Netblocks confirmed that Gaza “is in the midst of a new internet blackout with high impact to the last remaining major operator, Paltel.
• Humanitarian groups have condemned Israel’s attack on Jabalia refugee camp, saying the air raid should be a “wake-up call” to world leaders to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
• The director of the nearby Indonesian Hospital has said at least 50 people were killed and many others wounded in the attack; an Al Jazeera broadcast engineer lost 19 members of his family in the raid.
• The Israeli army has confirmed nine soldiers were killed in overnight raids on Gaza. This is the largest numbers of losses that Israeli army has suffered since its ground offensive in Gaza. This brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since October 7 to more than 320.