Israel opens new route out of Gaza City for 48 hours as tanks advance

CAIRO/JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said on Sept 17 that it was opening an additional route for 48 hours that Palestinians could use to leave Gaza City as it stepped up efforts to empty the city of civilians and confront thousands of Hamas combatants.

Hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering in the city and many are reluctant to follow Israel’s orders to move south because of the dangers along the way, dire conditions, a lack of food, and fear of permanent displacement.

“Even if we want to leave Gaza City, is there any guarantee we would be able to come back? Will the war ever end? That’s why I prefer to die here in Sabra, my neighbourhood,” teacher Ahmed said.

At least 30 people were killed across the Gaza Strip on Sept 17 in Israel’s latest strikes, including 19 in Gaza City, local authorities said.

A day after Israel announced the launch of a ground offensive to seize control of Gaza’s main urban centre, tanks had moved towards the city’s central and western areas from three directions, but no major advance was reported.

An Israeli official said military operations were focused on getting civilians to head south and that fighting would intensify over October and November. He said Israel expected around 100,000 civilians to remain in the city, which would take months to capture, and the operation could be suspended if a ceasefire was reached with the Hamas militant group.

The prospects of a ceasefire appear remote after Israel attacked Hamas political leaders in Doha last week, infuriating Qatar, a co-mediator in ceasefire talks.

Defying global criticism of the attack, including a rebuke by Israel’s stalwart ally – the US – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will strike Hamas leaders anywhere.

Visiting Doha on Sept 16, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was “a very short window of time” in which a ceasefire could happen, apparently referring to Israel’s stated plans to crush Hamas by force in Gaza.

In fliers dropped over Gaza City, the military said Palestinians could use the newly reopened Salahudin Road to escape towards the south and they had until lunchtime on Sept 19 to do so. “Movement must take place only via the streets marked in yellow on the map.”

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

Much of Gaza City was laid to waste early in the war in 2023, but around a million Palestinians had returned there to homes among the ruins. Forcing them out would mean confining most of Gaza’s population to overcrowded encampments in the south where a hunger crisis is unfolding.

The UN, aid groups and foreign governments have condemned Israel’s offensive and the proposed mass displacement.

A UN Commission of Inquiry concluded on Sept 16 that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Israel called the assessment “scandalous” and “fake”.

Israeli forces control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs and have been pounding three areas in the south-east, north and north-western coastal areas of the city, from which tanks have been pressing towards the centre and western areas.

“Gaza is being wiped out. A city that is thousands of years old is being wiped out in front of the whole cowardly world,” said Mr Ahmed.

Palestinian and UN officials said no place is safe, including in the southern area designated by Israel as a “humanitarian zone”. On Sept 17, an air strike killed five people in a vehicle as they were leaving Gaza City for the south.

In Nuseirat refugee camp in the enclave’s centre, an air strike destroyed a high-rise building on Sept 17, prompting residents of nearby buildings to flee in panic.

The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said Israel has destroyed and damaged 1,600 residential buildings since Aug 10, when Mr Netanyahu announced Israel’s intention to take full control of the territory by force.

Israeli forces have also destroyed 13,000 tents in Gaza City where displaced people had been sheltering, it added.

Israel estimates 40 per cent of people who were in Gaza City on Aug 10 have since left. The Gaza media office said 190,000 have headed south and 350,000 have moved to central and western areas of the city.

Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, Israeli tallies show. Israel’s military assault against Hamas has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, said Gaza’s health ministry. REUTERS