AN AGREEMENT has been reached to allow foreigners to exit Gaza through the Rafah border crossing later Saturday.
It comes as Palestinians are scrambling to flee northern Gaza after Israel ordered nearly half the population to flee south and carried out limited ground forays ahead of an expected land offensive, as the war appeared set to escalate a week after a wide-ranging Hamas attack on Israel.
Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for some one million residents to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay in their homes.
The UN and aid groups have said such a rapid exodus would cause untold human suffering, with hospital patients and others unable to relocate.
READ MORE: Israel engaging in collective punishment in Gaza, Taoiseach says
Families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with their possessions crowded a main road heading southwards from Gaza City as Israeli air strikes continued to hammer the besieged territory.
Palestinian witnesses said Israel struck cars rushing south, and Hamas said the strikes killed more than 70 people.
The Israeli military, which has not commented on the strikes, posted a message in Arabic on social media saying Palestinians could travel along two main routes without being harmed from 10am to 4pm local time.
The military said on Saturday that “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinians had already streamed south.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel