Israel Opens New Gaza Escape Route
- Israel's army has said it had opened a temporary new route to allow people to flee Gaza City, a day after launching a major ground assault aimed at...
- The Israeli military unleashed a massive bombardment of Gaza City before dawn yesterday and pushed its troops deeper into the Gaza Strip's largest urban hub.
- It came as a United Nations probe accused Israel of committing "genocide" in the Palestinian territory, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and othre senior officials had incited the...
Israel Opens Temporary Route for Gaza City Evacuees Amid Ground Assault
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Israel’s army has said 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 yesterday and pushed its troops deeper into the Gaza Strip’s largest urban hub.
It came as a United Nations probe accused Israel of committing “genocide” in the Palestinian territory, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and othre senior officials had incited the crime.
The Israeli military said it was opening “a temporary transportation route via Salah al-Din Street”.
Its Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee said the corridor would remain open for just 48 hours from midday tomorrow.
Until now, the army had urged residents to leave Gaza City via the coastal road towards what it calls 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.
Witness Accounts: Devastation and Loss
‘We pulled the children out in pieces’
The United Nations estimated at the end of August that around one million people lived in Gaza City and its surroundings.
There has been a fresh exodus in recent days, and the Israeli army has said that “more than 350,000” had so far fled south.
Many Palestinians in Gaza insist there is no safe place in the territory and say they would rather die in their homes than be displaced yet again.
Yesterday, people spoke of relentless bombing in Gaza City, much of which is already in ruins after nearly two years of Israeli strikes.
Only huge piles of rubble remained of a residential block in the north of the city hit by Israel’s bombardment.
“Why kill children sleeping safely like that, turning them into body parts?” said Abu Abd Zaquout. “We pulled the children out in pieces.”
Israeli Ground operation
The Israeli army said it had launched a major ground operation in Gaza City to oust Hamas from one of its last strongholds in the war-ravaged territory.