Thousands of Gazans fled south during an Israeli-given window, UN says.

According to United Nations observers, about 5,000 people left the northern half of Gaza during a four-hour window given by the Israeli army, a day after Israel said its forces divided the area in two.

Israel has urged Gazans to move south to what they say would be relative safety as its forces have encircled the densely populated Gaza City in the enclave’s north. Nearly three-quarters of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have fled their homes because of the warnings and widespread Israeli airstrikes, according to the United Nations.

Due to heavy damage to the roads leading to the main junction for travel south, the only option to flee south was on foot, an investigator said. report The United Nations Humanitarian and Emergency Aid Agency said this on Monday. During the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. period given by the Israeli army, which it said would allow traffic along the corridor, children and the elderly and disabled walked long distances with their belongings to leave northern Gaza, the report said .

Last weekend, Israeli officials renewed their calls for citizens to move south. The Israeli army reported on Saturday an attempt to open a passage was foiled by a Hamas attack, a claim that could not be verified. According to the report, fewer than 2,000 people left within a four-hour period on Sunday.

Israel has accused Hamas of preventing Gazans from leaving their homes to use them as “human shields,” which Hamas denies. Gazans who heeded the warnings and headed south have said they faced Israeli bombardments along the way, as well as after arriving in the southern half of the territory.

Late on Sunday, the army said that after two Israeli columns surrounded Gaza City, the Gaza Strip had effectively been divided in two. “In essence, today there is a northern Gaza and a southern Gaza,” said Admiral Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman.