The Israel Defense Forces accused Hamas terrorists of launching attacks on an evacuation corridor established by Israel to allow civilians in Gaza to flee the conflict.
On Saturday, Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-language spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, announced the opening of an evacuation corridor along the Salah al-Din road so that Palestinian civilians could escape to safety from the fighting against the Islamist Hamas terrorists that Jerusalem is seeking to eradicate from Gaza following the October 7th terror attacks that claimed the lives of around 1,200 people.
Israel Defence Forces
However, the IDF claimed that Hamas, which has ruled over the Gaza Strip after taking over the territory in a violent coup in 2007, took advantage of the situation and waged attacks on the evacuation of the very people it claims to protect.
The IDF published footage on social media which it claimed showed Hamas terrorist mortars and anti-tank guided missiles attacking the humanitarian corridor.
דובר צה"ל בערבית עדכן מוקדם יותר היום כי בין השעות 13:00-16:00 ציר "צאלח אלדין" שברצועת עזה ישמש למעבר הומניטרי לתושבי צפון הרצועה שטרם נעו דרומה למען שמירה על ביטחונם>> pic.twitter.com/oEDK97DGqi
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 4, 2023
The Israel Defence Forces also published audio from a soldier on the ground, who said: “As far as we are concerned, population movement has begun. Wait a minute, I think they fired on us. RPG Fire, we hear an RPG explosion.”
In a statement provided to Breitbart News, the IDF said: “The Hamas terrorist organization exploited the humanitarian window that the IDF provided to residents of the Gaza Strip to move southwards, and the terrorists fired mortars and anti-tank missiles at IDF troops who arrived and operated to open the route.”
No Israeli soldiers were injured during the incident, the IDF said.
Israel Defence Forces
Israel has been criticised by international leftist and anti-Israel activists for killing civilians in the conflict with Hamas. Israel has claimed that it is trying to avoid civilian casualties but that collateral damage occurs as a result of Hamas terrorists using the Palestinian population as human shields.
The Biden administration in the United States has also called upon Jerusalem to enact a “pause” of the conflict to allow for aid to be delivered to the Gaza Strip and for evacuations. However, the IDF said that the latest attack on Palestinian civilians “further proves that Hamas exploits the Gazan population and prevents them from acting in the interest of their own safety.”
The IDF, according to The Times of Israel, previously claimed that Hamas has also sought to stop Palestinian civilians from fleeing Northern Gaza, where most of the fighting with Israeli forces has occurred.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.
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