Israel opens 48-hour evacuation route out of Gaza City, death toll passes 65,000

The Israeli military said it was opening an additional route for 48 hours that Palestinians could use to leave Gaza City as it stepped up efforts on Wednesday to empty the city of civilians and confront Hamas militants.

An Israeli official told Reuters that military operations were focused on getting civilians to head south, warning that fighting would intensify over the next month or two.

The official said Israel expected around 100,000 civilians to remain in the city, which would take months to capture, and added the operation could be suspended if a ceasefire was reached with Hamas.

At least 63 people were killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, with Gaza City having most of the casualties, local health authorities said.

They said the latest fatalities took the Palestinian death toll from the two-year conflict between Israel and Hamas past 65,000.

Palestinians forced out

Israel estimates about 400,000 people, or 40 percent of those who were in Gaza City on August 10 – when it announced plans to take control – have already fled. The Gaza Media Office said 190,000 have headed south and 350,000 have moved to central and western areas of the city.

In leaflets dropped over Gaza City, the military said Palestinians could use the newly reopened Salahudin Road to escape towards the south and that they had until lunchtime on Friday to do so.

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 waste early in the war in 2023, but around one 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.

Condemnations

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

Palestinian and UN officials say no place is safe, including in the southern area designated by Israel as a "humanitarian zone."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Wednesday that issuing displacement orders does not absolve parties to a conflict from their responsibilities to protect civilians in the conduct of their hostilities.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Spanish King Felipe VI on Wednesday called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of hostages, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid, as the two leaders held a meeting at Al Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in Cairo.

Qatar became the latest country to urge Israel to stop its assault on Gaza City, calling it "an extension of its genocidal war against the Palestinian people."

On the same day, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned the EU against taking action against Israel, after the bloc's executive proposed curbing trade ties and sanctioning far-right ministers over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

(With input from agencies)