The Israel Defence Forces has stopped civilians from travelling along parts of the Salah al Din road, warning it is “extremely dangerous”. 

The road is the main route connecting northern and southern Gaza and has been used by hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Israel’s ground operation in the north. 

Avichay Adraee, an IDF spokesman, said civilians will not be able to move through the sections of the road that are north and east of the city of Khan Younis. 

“In these clips, the Salah al Din axis constitutes a battlefield, so it is extremely dangerous to reach it,” he said. 

People trying to flee the north are still able to travel along the part of the road that is to the west of Khan Younis, he added. 

It comes as Israeli troops push forward with their offensive in the south, where aid agencies have warned a new wave of displaced Palestinians could worsen the region’s humanitarian crisis. 

The UN has said 1.87 million people – more than 80% of Gaza’s population – have been driven from their homes, and fighting is now preventing distribution of food, water and medicine outside a tiny sliver of southern Gaza.