Israeli army bans Palestinians from using main route from northern Gaza to south

The Israeli army banned Palestinians on Thursday from traveling through the Salah al-Din Street, a route designed by Tel Aviv for safe passage between northern Gaza and the south.

A military statement said that the move was taken as army forces advanced in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza that separate the territory's north from the south.

“Over the past day, IDF (army) troops began a targeted operation” in central Gaza, and are “deployed up to the center of the Netzarim Corridor,” army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

“For your safety, do not travel on the Salah a-Din road between the north of the Gaza Strip and the south and vice versa,” he added.

The Israeli army closed the Salah al-Din Street on Wednesday, in a move denounced by Hamas as a “total overturn” of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

More than 700 Palestinians were and over 900 others injured in a surprise aerial campaign by Israel on Gaza since Tuesday, shattering the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

Nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 112,000 others injured in a brutal Israeli military campaign in Gaza since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.