Streets 'reek of blood:' Gazans run out of time after Israel's evacuation deadline

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been fleeing south through the battered streets of Gaza after the Israeli military told them to leave northern areas of the densely populated strip.

Parts of the south are becoming even more crowded and overstretched, Gazans say, as waves of Palestinians abandon their homes in the wake of Israel's statement, which came ahead of an anticipated ground assault by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

More than half of Gaza's 2 million residents live in the northern section that Israel said should evacuate. Many families, some of whom were already internally displaced, are now crammed into an even smaller portion of the 140-square-mile territory.

The IDF said Saturday it would allow safe movement on specified streets between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. local time (3 - 9 a.m. ET). Residents were advised to use this window to move from the northern Beit Hanoun to Khan Yunis in the south - a roughly 20-mile distance of rubble-strewn streets.

The evacuation statement has been described by rights groups as well as some neighboring countries as a breach of international humanitarian law. Jordan's foreign minister described it as a "war crime."

The UN's Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was forced to move its central operations from Gaza City to a location in southern Gaza following the Israeli statement, on Saturday described the evacuation as an "exodus," and said that "nearly 1 million people have been displaced in one week alone."

The evacuation advisory came after Israel imposed a complete siege on Gaza in response to a brutal attack launched a week ago by Hamas, which left at least 1,300 dead in Israel.