Israel’s army yesterday said that it had opened a temporary new route to allow people to flee Gaza City, a day after launching a major ground assault aimed at crushing Hamas.
The Israeli military unleashed a massive bombardment of Gaza City before dawn on Tuesday and pushed its troops deeper into the Gaza Strip’s largest urban hub.
The Israeli military yesterday said it was opening “a temporary transportation route via Salah al-Din Street.”
Photo: EPA
Its Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said that the corridor would remain open for just 48 hours from midday yesterday.
Until now, the army had urged residents to leave Gaza City via the coastal road toward a “humanitarian zone” further south, including parts of al-Mawasi.
Salah al-Din Street runs down the middle of the Gaza Strip from north to south.
The UN estimated at the end of last month that about 1 million people lived in Gaza City and its surroundings.
Journalists have observed a fresh exodus in the past few days.
The Israeli army yesterday said that “more than 350,000” had so far fled south.
Many Palestinians interviewed in Gaza said that there is no safe place in the territory and they would rather die in their homes than be displaced yet again.
On Tuesday, residents spoke about relentless bombing in Gaza City, much of which is already in ruins.
Only huge piles of rubble remained of a residential block in the north of the city hit by Israel’s bombardment.
A coalition of leading aid groups yesterday urged the international community to take stronger measures to stop Israel’s offensive on Gaza City.
“What we are witnessing in Gaza is not only an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, but what the UN Commission of Inquiry has now concluded is a genocide,” the groups said in a statement.
“States must use every available political, economic and legal tool at their disposal to intervene. Rhetoric and half measures are not enough. This moment demands decisive action,” the statement said.
The message was signed by the leaders of more than 20 aid organizations operating in Gaza, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Anera and Save the Children.
Later yesterday, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it condemned “in the strongest terms” Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza.
The operation marked a “extension of the war of genocide” against the Palestinians, the ministry wrote on X.
Separately, the EU proposed curbing trade ties with Israel and sanctioning ministers in its strongest action over the war, although the measures are not expected to be adopted due to reluctance from key member states.
“I want to be very clear, the aim is not to punish Israel. The aim is to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said.
“The war needs to end. The suffering must stop, and all hostages must be released,” she said.
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