US says 2 humanitarian corridors will allow residents to flee northern Gaza

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US said Thursday that there will be two humanitarian corridors to allow residents to flee areas of hostilities in the northern Gaza Strip.

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that the first corridor has been opened between four and five hours everyday for the past few days and that has allowed residents to reach safer areas. The second route, which will open along the coast, would enable many more to reach safer areas in the south.

Patel said the Rafah border crossing with Egypt is open for aid trucks to enter the enclave and foreign nationals to depart, noting that 106 trucks flowed into Gaza through the crossing Tuesday.

When asked by Anadolu about concerns for the territorial integrity of Gaza, and comments by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said any move by Israel to divide Gaza into two sections is “unacceptable,” Patel reiterated the US position that no "reoccupation" of Gaza can happen after the conflict as well as no attempt to "blockade or besiege" the enclave.

Asked if those who leave northern Gaza will be able to return, Patel said the forced relocation of civilians from Gaza is not something the US supports.

He added that civilians who may call Gaza home “should have the ability to return.”

The remarks came hours after National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby announced that Israel agreed to institute four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in northern parts of the besieged Gaza Strip.

The brief hiatuses will allow humanitarian assistance to be moved into the areas where they are implemented and will allow Palestinians "to get out of harm's way," according to Kirby.

According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed, including over 4,400 children, since Oct. 7 when the conflict began following a cross-border attack by Hamas that killed over 1,400 in Israel.