The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday accused the Hamas terror group of attacking Israeli troops working to open up a humanitarian corridor for Palestinians to evacuate from northern Gaza to its south.

The military has for weeks been urging northern Gaza residents to evacuate southward, warning them it will be focusing its military efforts on the Gaza City area, the heart of Hamas’s rule and its main base of operations in Gaza. At least 800,000 of some one million residents of the area have done so.