However some Gazans who’ve made or tried the journey in current days have described being fired at from the route of Israeli tanks, regardless of the promise of protected passage, whereas others mentioned they’d seen our bodies, or elements of our bodies, scattered across the highway. The United Nations is conscious of such studies however has not recognized who was accountable, mentioned one U.N. official who requested to not be recognized due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Requested about studies of Israeli tanks firing at refugees, the Israeli army mentioned in a press release that it had been focusing on Hamas all through Gaza. It mentioned its assaults on army targets have been performed underneath worldwide legislation, together with taking “possible precautions to mitigate civilian casualties.”
On Sunday, Anas Al Kourd, a paramedic at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza Metropolis, drove south together with his cousin, whose legs had been amputated after she was wounded within the battle, and others, together with 4 kids. Theirs was the one automotive in sight. Round them, everybody held their palms up in a gesture of give up as they walked, carrying little however white flags, he mentioned.
As they approached Kuwait Sq., a serious intersection in Gaza Metropolis, they got here underneath hearth, forcing them to retreat, he mentioned. Two or thrice they tried to maneuver ahead, solely to have to show round once more due to incoming hearth.
After they lastly made it to the sq., he mentioned, he may see greater than 50 Israeli tanks close by, sitting the place an olive grove was once. He mentioned he waved the blanket masking his cousin rather than a white flag, whereas a few of his companions, who’re twin residents, waved their purple German passports.
Mr. Al Kourd had coated a few third of the remaining distance to the center zone of Gaza, bumping over splintered timber and concrete blocks, when he mentioned they have been fired on once more. He was driving at “mad pace” to flee, he mentioned, when a missile or bomb from a warplane hit close by. Nobody was struck, however their automotive hit a crater within the highway and went flying, he mentioned.
“I don’t understand how we survived,” he mentioned a day later, having made it to the center zone of the Gaza Strip. His account couldn’t be independently confirmed.