As Israel pushes deeper into northern Gaza, thousands travel south

But some Gazans who have made or attempted the journey in recent days have described being shot at from the direction of Israeli tanks despite the promise of safe passage, while others said they saw bodies, or parts of bodies, scattered across the had seen away. The United Nations is aware of such reports but has not identified who was responsible, said a U.N. official who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Asked about reports of Israeli tanks shooting at refugees, the Israeli army said in a statement that it had attacked Hamas across Gaza. It said its attacks on military targets were carried out under international law, including taking “feasible precautions to limit civilian casualties.”

On Sunday, Anas Al Kourd, a paramedic at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, drove south with his cousin, whose legs were amputated after being injured in the war, and others, including four children. Their car was the only car in sight. Around them, everyone held their hands up in a gesture of surrender as they walked, holding small but white flags, he said.

As they approached Kuwait Square, a key intersection in Gaza City, they came under fire, forcing them to withdraw, he said. Two or three times they tried to move forward, but had to turn around again because of incoming fire.

When they finally reached the square, he said, he saw more than 50 Israeli tanks nearby, where an olive grove used to stand. He said he waved the blanket over his cousin instead of a white flag, while some of his companions, who have dual nationality, waved their red German passports.

Mr Al Kourd had covered about a third of the remaining distance into Gaza’s central zone, crashing over splintered trees and concrete blocks, when he said they were fired on again. He was driving at “crazy speed” to escape, he said, when a missile or bomb from a fighter jet struck nearby. No one was hit, but their car hit an earlier crater in the road that sent it flying, he said.

“I don’t know how we survived,” he said a day later, after reaching the central zone of the Gaza Strip. His account could not be independently confirmed.