Thousands of Gazan civilians moved southward in the Strip on Tuesday through an evacuation corridor set up by the IDF to enable safe passage, according to an Israeli Defense Ministry body.

COGAT, the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories, shared a brief video on X it said showed the movement of civilians southward, many of whom could be seen carrying white flags and holding their hands in the air, passing by an Israeli tank.

The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, also posted the short clip, telling residents that the Salah a-Din road would be open for Palestinians to evacuate to southern Gaza between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

“If you care about yourself and your loved ones, head south according to our instructions,” he wrote. “Rest assured that Hamas leaders have already taken care of themselves.”

Photographers for the AFP and AP agencies also documented the movement southward of large groups of Palestinians on Salah a-Din road in the Strip on Tuesday.

For weeks Israeli authorities have been urging civilians in Gaza to move to the southern part of the Strip, as its ground and air operations against have been mostly concentrated in the north. Israel has dropped fliers in the northern Strip urging people to leave and providing maps of evacuation routes.

Hundreds of thousands have already heeded the call, but others stayed put, deterred by overcrowding in the south, a dwindling water and food supplies, and fears of the treacherous journey.

Hamas has accused the IDF of firing on or striking convoys of those evacuating, charges that Israel has strongly denied. The IDF instead has provided evidence that Hamas operatives are trying to prevent civilians from moving south, setting up roadblocks and purportedly even firing on convoys.