The Israeli military has said that it would enable Palestinians to travel on a main Gaza Strip highway as part of its three-wee-old efforts to encourage civilians to evacuate southward away from areas that are the focus of its war with Hamas, Reuters reports.

In a social media post in Arabic, the military said the Salah a-Din road could be used between 1pm and 4pm (1100 GMT and 1400).

“If you care about yourself and your loved ones, heed our instruction to head south,” it added.