The Israeli military said it was opening a temporary new route Wednesday to allow people to flee Gaza City, as it pressed a major ground assault aimed at crushing Hamas.

The army unleashed a massive bombardment of Gaza City before dawn on Tuesday 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 other senior officials had incited the crime.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it was opening “a temporary transportation route via Salah al-Din Street”, as AFP images showed fresh bombardments.

Its Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said the corridor would remain open for just 48 hours from midday (0900 GMT).

Until now, the army had urged people to flee south along the coastal road toward what it calls a humanitarian zone, including parts of Al-Mawasi.

Salah al-Din Street cuts through the territory from north to south.

‘Death is cheaper’

The United Nations estimated at the end of August that about one million people lived in Gaza City and its surroundings.

AFP journalists have observed new waves of displacement, and the Israeli army said Wednesday that more than 350,000 had so far fled south.

But many Gazans say nowhere is safe and vow to stay in their homes.

“I won’t leave Gaza. There’s shelling here and there,” said Umm Ahmed Yunes, who is living in her partially destroyed home.

She lamented the high cost of moving.

“Where would I find $1,000 or $2,000 for transport costs? Where would I buy a tent? There are no tents and prices are insane,” said the 44-year-old.

“Death is cheaper and more merciful.”

Mother of four Fatima Lubbad left Gaza City with 10 relatives but said the ordeal was unbearable.

“I wish we would all die together,” said the 36-year-old.

“Last night we slept in the street by the sea in Deir el-Balah — there was nowhere to put a tent… I cried all night as I looked at my children sleeping on the ground.”

The Israeli military said it has struck more than 150 targets in Gaza City since launching its ground assault on Tuesday.

The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 64,964 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

The Israeli military estimates there are 2,000 to 3,000 Hamas militants in central Gaza City, and that about 40 percent of residents have fled.

UN investigators say Israel committing genocide

Hamas said the assault was “systematic ethnic cleansing targeting our people in Gaza”.

Gaza’s civil defence, a rescue force operating under Hamas authority, said at least 12 people had been killed by Israeli fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Media restrictions in the territory and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the details provided by the civil defence or the Israeli military.

On Tuesday, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak for the world body, found that “genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur”, commission chief Navi Pillay told AFP.

Israel said it “categorically rejects this distorted and false report” and called for the “immediate abolition” of the COI.

On Wednesday, 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”.

China followed suit, saying it “firmly opposes Israel’s escalation of military operations in Gaza and condemns all acts that harm civilians and violate international law”.

Pope Leo XVI expressed “deep solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza who continue to live in fear and survive in unacceptable conditions, being forcibly displaced once again from their lands”.

Israel carried out strikes against Hamas leaders in Doha on September 9, killing five of the militant group’s members and a Qatari security officer.

On Tuesday during a visit to Doha, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to ask the Gulf country to stay on as a mediator in the Gaza talks.

AFP