A group of 34 Brazilians, trapped in Gaza since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict last month, saw their hopes of leaving extinguished again today as the border with Egypt was shut, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira has said.

According to Reuters, Brazilian officials say they have grown irate at the slow pace of exit for the Brazilians, with a view that Israel is slow-walking their release.

The 34 Brazilians believed they would be leaving on Friday, and travelled from their shelter in Gaza to the border only to have to return when they learned it would not be opened.

“The Brazilians were on the list since Wednesday, but their departure was not confirmed because there was no opening for individuals of different nationalities,” Vieira told journalists in Brasilia. “The situation in Gaza doesn’t allow me to say, at the moment, when they will leave.”