Israeli tanks have blocked the main road into Gaza City and soldiers are preventing those who left the besieged urban centre from returning. Tanks and troops set up sand barriers on the road south out of Gaza City. People are being allowed out but those who left in search of food are no longer being permitted to return, residents said. “This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas operatives isolated in Gaza City itself in the face of the [army’s] continuing full-scale operations,” Israeli Defence Minister Katz said in a statement.
