Palestinians embraced at the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip on Friday as students returned home after fleeing the eruption of violence in Sudan.

Gaza's Crossing and Border Authority said "172 students arrived in the homeland through the Rafah border crossing, as the first batch of students coming from Sudan."

There were hugs and tears at the southern gateway to Gaza as relatives greeted young Palestinians fleeing fighting which broke out on April 15.

Governments have rushed to extract their citizens from Sudan amid the deadly violence between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

More than 500 people have been killed, according to health ministry figures which are believed to be incomplete.

Wael al-Masri, a medical student, said the situation was akin to a "civil war".

"I thank everyone who helped us return," he said at the Rafah crossing, which was opened especially for their arrival by Egyptian authorities.