clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Israel offers Palestinians in Gaza City 'corridor to flee south'

November 7, 2023 at 10:07 am

Palestinians in Gaza, who are exposed to intense Israeli bombardment, migrate to the southern and central parts of the Gaza Strip as the Israeli attacks continue on its 32nd day in Gaza City, Gaza on November 7, 2023 [Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency]

Israeli occupation forces have told the residents of Gaza City to leave and move south, adding that they will allow those wishing to do so to travel, on foot, along the Salahuddin Road between 10am and 2pm local time.

In a tweet published on X at 10.47 local time, Arabic spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee wrote: “today the IDF will once again allow passage on the Salah al-Din Road between 10:00 AM and 14:00 PM. For your safety, take this next opportunity to move south beyond Wadi Gaza.”

“Many of you are doing this at this hour, as you can see in the attached photos that were taken a short while ago,” he added, attaching video footage of hundreds of people walking along a road with their arms up in surrender. This footage could not be independently verified.

“If you care about yourself and your loved ones, head south according to our instructions.”

Israel has, on more than one occasion over the last month, targeted Palestinians trying to flee northern Gaza following instruction from the occupation forces.

On 13 October Israel told 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to leave their homes and move south or risk being considered Hamas operatives and therefore be targeted by the occupation.

Israel has intensified its bombing of northern Gaza and announced that overnight it had encircled Gaza City. Residents fear Israel’s next target will be Gaza’s main medical centre, Al-Shifa Hospital, which it claims is built on the Palestinian resistance’s underground tunnels, though it has provided no proof of this.

All hospitals in Gaza have been hit by Israeli air strikes, with the entrance of Al-Shifa being targeted on Friday, killing scores of injured people who were being transferred to the Rafah crossing in order to be evacuated for medical reasons.

Yesterday, the occupation’s warplanes targeted the hospital’s solar panels, which were its remaining energy source as Israel has not allowed fuel into the Strip for a month.

Under the rules of international law, hospitals, schools and all medical facilities must be protected during times of war.  Some 50,000 Palestinians have taken shelter in and around Al-Shifa Hospital after being forcibly displaced from their homes, some have neither the financial or physical ability to move south.

READ: 100 Israel doctors calls for bombing Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza