Hundreds of residents of Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood leave on humanitarian corridors opened by the IDF
Hundreds of residents of Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood were captured on video Tuesday morning leaving their homes through humanitarian corridors opened by the IDF and evacuating south, with some waving white flags as a sign of surrender. The IDF has taken over the neighborhood in the south of the city, and more and more residents in the northern Gaza Strip realize that, in light of the advance of the IDF soldiers, it is better for them to evacuate to the south - even on foot.
Read more:
Hamas was quick to cast doubt on the photos of the residents of Zeitoun, and asked Gazan journalists not to spread them around the world. According to the terrorist organization, these are pictures that humiliate the citizens of Gaza.
5 View gallery
Palestinians moving in humanitarian corridors to southern Gaza
(Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
The IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee, who published the video of the residents of Zeitoun, announced at the same time another humanitarian corridor opened through the main Salah al-Din Road, to allow the residents to move south Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
"Use this opportunity to go south to the other side of Wadi Gaza," he said, referring to the body of water that delineates the southern and northern parts of the Palestinian territory. "Many are doing so at this time. If you care for yourselves and your loved ones, move south according to our instructions. You can be sure Hamas leaders have already taken care of their own needs."
A humanitarian corridor was opened to the south of the Gaza Strip also on Monday, and the IDF allowed civilian passage from the al-Shati refugee camp via the Salah al-Din Road. Contrary to the claims of Hamas, who said that the IDF was shooting at civilians moving south, the voices of Gazans traveling on Salah al-Din emphasized that the soldiers are not shooting evacuees and are allowing them to head south.
A Gazan in the A-Shati camp interviewed by the Qatari Al-Araby channel said: "We were walking in the street and we were afraid. We raised our hands, and we had identity cards on us. They (the army) shot, but they didn't aim at us, and they let us go." Another resident said that, despite the fear, he and other residents preferred to "go toward the south and not stay in the fighting area." He emphasized that the sights on the road are horrifying and that the IDF "gave us the opportunity to pass and did not harm us."
Contrary to the claims heard on the Al-Araby channel, the Associated Press news agency wrote that some Palestinians reported that IDF soldiers shot at them, and that they passed dead bodies that were lying along the Salah al-Din Road.
5 View gallery
Gazans evacuate Gaza City and head to the south of the strip
(Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
According to the AP, the evacuees marching on Salah al-Din, or riding on donkeys, did so with their hands raised and waving white flags in front of IDF tanks. According to the United Nations, about 5,000 people on Tuesday took advantage of the humanitarian corridor from Salah al-Din to the south, which was open for four hours, compared to 2,000 Monday.
UN data shows that, of the 2.4 million residents of Gaza, more than 1.5 million left their homes in the past month. According to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, more than half a million are taking shelter in UNRWA facilities in the southern Gaza Strip - and the UNRWA is are not able to take in new evacuees.
According to the IDF, Hamas tried to sabotage the movement of the population to the south on Monday and fired an anti-tank missile at the residents. On Tuesday an IDF tank secured the evacuees on the Salah al-Din Road so that Hamas would not harm them.