Some encouraging news out of the Middle East emerged Wednesday as the White House confirmed that scores of foreign nationals, including several Americans, were able to depart Gaza via the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. 

White House confirms Americans are among those departing Gaza https://t.co/wk30Q0gSYF

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And according to National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, the expectation is that more individuals will be allowed to leave in the coming days. 

American citizens were among the scores of foreign nationals who began to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Wednesday, the White House confirmed. 

“The United States has been able to secure safe passage for wounded Palestinians and foreign nationals, including Americans, to depart Gaza through the Rafah crossing,” John Kirby, a spokesperson on foreign policy and national security, told reporters aboard Air Force One.  

“And this is an important first step in a process that we expect to see continue over the coming days. The situation remains very fluid, but this is a significant breakthrough,” Kirby said. 

“A handful of Americans” are expected to depart Wednesday, with more expected in the coming days, Kirby said. 

The departure of Americans and others was the “direct result” of weeks of diplomacy conducted by President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Kirby said. Biden raised the exit of civilians through the Rafah crossing on separate Sunday phone calls with the president of Egypt and the prime minister of Israel, he said.

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed the news at the daily briefing Wednesday afternoon.

LIVE on https://t.co/MlO245CgyJ: @StateDept briefing - https://t.co/89F394oDk6

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"Let me start with an update on the situation at Rafah. It has been a top priority for the United States to get Rafah open, not just for trucks coming in but for U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals coming out. The president has been working on this. Secretary Blinken has been working on it. And, of course, our special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, David Satterfield, has been on the ground negotiating the details. As a result of these efforts, an initial group of foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens, departed Gaza through Rafah today, and we expect exits of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to continue over the next several days. 

"We want to make sure we can get U.S. citizens and their family members out as safely as possible. In the past 24 hours, we have informed U.S. citizens and their family and family members with whom we are in contact that they will be assigned specific departure dates. We have asked them to continue to monitor their email regularly over the next 24 to 72 hours for specific instructions about how to exit. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo is standing by to provide assistance to U.S. citizens as they enter Egypt. The situation remains extremely fluid but this has been an important breakthrough and we will keep working on it to ensure that all of the U.S. citizens who wish to depart safely from Gaza can do so."

The State Department has indicated there are at least 400 American citizens, along with their family members, stuck in Gaza (separate and apart from those still being held hostage by Hamas).