Israel opens a new temporary road from Gaza City as the tanks are advancing, more forced to flee

The Israeli army said on Wednesday that it opened an additional route for 48 hours that the Palestinians could use to leave the city of Gaza as it intensified efforts to empty the city of civilians and face thousands of Hamas fighters.

Hundreds of thousands of people take shelter in the city and many hesitate to follow the orders of Israel to move south due to dangers along the way, disastrous conditions, a lack of food in the southern region and a fear of permanent displacement.

“Even if we want to leave Gaza City, is there a guarantee that we could come back? War will never end? This is why I prefer to die here, in Sabra, my neighborhood,” said Ahmed, school teacher, by phone.

On Wednesday, at least 50 people were killed by Israeli strikes and shots through the Gaza Strip, including 39 in Gaza City, local health authorities announced.

They declared that the last deaths made the number of Palestinian deaths in the two -year war between Israel and Hamas after 65,000. Palestinian officials and rescuers say that the real figure is probably higher, because many remains of people are trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.

The war was launched by the attacks led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages, according to Israeli accounts.

The Gaza health authorities have also reported an attack on drones against a specialized children’s hospital, which has not victims but forced young patients and their families outside.

Israel estimates that around 400,000 people, 40% of those in Gaza City on August 10, when he announced his intention to take control. The Gaza media office says 190,000 went south and that 350,000 moved to the city and west of the city.

Grenades report abandoned at the children’s hospital

One day after Israel announced the launch of an offensive on the ground to take control of the main urban center of Gaza, the tanks had moved from short distances to the city’s central and western areas from three directions, but no major advance has been reported.

An Israeli official said that military operations focused on the fact that civilians are heading south and that fighting would intensify over the next two months.

The official said that Israel expected around 100,000 civilians to stay in the city, which would take months to capture, and the operation could be suspended if a cease-fire was reached with the Hamas militant group.

The prospects for a ceasefire seem to be distant after Israel attacked Hamas’ political leaders in Doha last week, exasperating Qatar, co-mediator in cease-fire talks.

Defying world attacks of the attack, including a reprimand by the faithful ally of Israel, the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ISRAEL hit Hamas leaders anywhere.

Look | Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain in the city of Gaza:

“ We have no intention of leaving again ” says a resident of Gaza City

Thousands of Palestinians broadcast from Gaza City while Israel launched its offensive on the ground on Tuesday, but hundreds of thousands of people remain in the city which is already in ruins of almost two years of war. Several residents, some of whom had already fled south, but have returned since, explain the independent videographer of CBC News, Mohamed El Saife why they stay.

The Ministry of Health said that an Israeli drone had abandoned grenades on Wednesday from the Rantissi children’s hospital. No victim has been reported, but the ministry said that some families took their children.

“This hospital is the only specialized establishment for children with cancer, kidney failure and other potentially deadly conditions – but even these seriously ill children are not spared from the incessant bombardment,” said Fikr Ballotoot, Director of Gaza of Charity Aid Basy based in the United Kingdom for Palestinians.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

More leaflets lowered

In the leaflets that fell on Gaza City, the soldiers said the Palestinians could use the newly reopened Salah Al-Din road to escape south and that they had until lunchtime on Friday to do so.

“The movement should only take place via the streets marked in yellow on the map as a way for transit to the south. Follow the instructions of the security forces and signal panels,” they said.

But the situation has remained chaotic and dangerous for civilians, who have moved away on foot, by donkey cart or in vehicles in recent days.

Look | The United Nations investigation concludes that Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza:

Israel commits a genocide in Gaza, the results of the United Nations survey

On the same day, an offensive on the ground was launched in Gaza City, a report by the United Nations Commission concluded that Israel committed a genocide in Gaza, a conclusion clearly refused by Israeli officials.

A large part of Gaza City was owned at the start of the war in 2023, but about 1 million Palestinians returned to houses among the ruins. Forcing them to come out would mean confine most of the Gaza population to overcrowded camps in the south where a hunger crisis takes place.

The United Nations, aid groups and foreign governments condemned the offensive of Israel and the proposed mass displacement.

A United Nations commission of inquiry concluded on Tuesday that Israel had committed a genocide in Gaza. Israel described the evaluation of “scandalous” and “false”.

On Wednesday, more than 20 large aid groups called for an urgent intervention in Gaza, urging world leaders who meet next week to “act in accordance” in the United Nations mandate after the conclusion of the United Nations Commission.

“Gaza was deliberately uninhabitable,” said a group of groups including Save The Children, Aera and Care International.

“Now, as the Israeli government has ordered the mass movement of Gaza City – which houses nearly a million people – we are on the precipice of an even more deadly period in the history of Gaza if the action is not taken.

Hundreds of thousands still in Gaza City

The Israeli forces control the eastern suburbs of the city of Gaza and beat three areas in the southeast, north and northwest coastal areas of the city, from which reservoirs pushed towards the center and the western areas.

“Gaza is wiped out. A city with thousands of years is destroyed in front of everyone loose,” said Ahmed, school teacher.

Palestinian and UN officials say that no place is sure, including in the southern area designated by Israel as a “humanitarian zone”. On Tuesday, an air strike killed five people in a vehicle when they left Gaza City for the South.

In the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the enclave, an air strike destroyed a high -rise building on Wednesday, which prompted the residents of the nearby buildings to flee in panic.

The Gaza Government’s media office managed by Hamas said ISRAEL had destroyed and damaged 1,600 residential buildings since August 10, when Netanyahu announced Israel’s intention to take full control of the territory by force.

Israeli forces also destroyed 13,000 tents in the city of Gaza where displaced people had sheltered, he said.