IDF opens temporary corridor to accelerate Gaza City evacuation
The displaced Palestinians, fleeing north of Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move south after the Israeli forces ordered the residents of Gaza City to evacuate the South, in the Gaza Central Strip on September 15, 2025. (Photo credit: Reuters / Mahmoud Issa)
The FDI called on residents to use only the designated route and follow the instructions given by the security personnel.
On Wednesday, the FDIs opened a temporary traffic corridor via Salah al-Din Street to accelerate the evacuation of civilians from Gaza City to the southern Wadi Gaza, said army spokesperson in Arabic, Colonel Avichay Adraee.
The corridor had to start working at 12 noon, local time on September 17 and will remain open until 12 p.m. on September 19. It is intended to alleviate the movement of civilians towards the southern part of the Gaza strip, announced Colonel Avichay Adraee.
In the press release, the FDI referred to the western sector of the city of Gaza, known locally as the Tancher Ax or Coastal Road, indicating that the military increased operations near the shore and intensifying its encirclement of the city.
The FDI called on residents to use only the designated route and follow the instructions given by the security personnel. The army also pointed out that traffic signs have been placed along the route to help civilians.
On Tuesday, around 350,000 inhabitants had already left Gaza City, according to the army, out of approximately one million people who live there.
An FDI opinion on the 48 -hour evacuation route for residents of Gaza City. (Credit: the unit of the TDI spokesperson)
Heavy congestion reported on the evacuation routes
The residents reported that the Tancher axis, which continues the route of Route 4 of Israel through the Gaza Strip of Erez in Rafah, was strongly congestioned. The evacuates said that the city’s travel times in Al-Mawasi, the designated humanitarian area, took several hours.
According to Adraee, civilians are allowed to travel on Street Salah al-Din and continue south of Wadi Gaza. The army stressed that this corridor is temporary and will only apply during the period of 48 hours indicated.
Context at the announcement of the corridor
The decision to open the passage comes from days after the FDI began an offensive of the major terrain in Gaza City and renewed calls for the evacuation of civilians. The army used leaflets, text messages and calls recorded in Arabic to communicate the evacuation instructions.
The Al-Mawasi region is a humanitarian area designated since 2024. Salah al-Din Street and Rashid Road are the two main North-South arteries in Gaza and intersect with the old netzarim corridor, a road that the FDIs have sometimes used to divide the band.
“Use only the streets marked on the map as a road to the south, obey the instructions of the security forces and the traffic signs,” said the FDI in Arabic.
