Palestinians fleeing along Israeli-designated 'evacuation route' in northern Gaza killed in airstrike

• Video shows civilians killed as they fled using a designated 'evacuation route' in Gaza.
• Israel had said it would not attack the evacuation route.

The Israeli military told over a million residents to flee northern Gaza, urging civilians to defy Hamas' order to stay if they wanted to be safe. It then killed scores of them in an airstrike late Friday night, according to videos from the scene that have now been verified by multiple international media outlets and testimony from an eyewitness who spoke to Insider.

Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, has claimed as many as 70 people died in the incident, a figure that cannot be independently verified. But the fact that civilians were killed is no longer in dispute.

Along one of the Israeli-designated evacuation routes, the BBC confirmed the video, which shows at least a dozen corpses beside a convoy that was attacked. "They are mostly women and children," the outlet reported, "some of whom appear to be as young as two to five years old."

Videos from the scene were also verified by CNN, which noted that "several children" were among a score of dead bodies in a "scene of extensive destruction."

The Washington Post also verified the video, which "shows bodies, including several children, strewn along the road as black smoke rises from vehicles engulfed in flames."

In a statement to Insider, the Israel Defense Forces said it is investigating the incident.

Rana Akila, 35, was with her husband and two young children, stuck in traffic trying to flee their home in Gaza City, when the strike occurred.

"I was one of those people waiting in a long queue on the road, which was supposed to be safe," Akila told Insider. "A few cars away from us was the bombing — the warplanes targeted cars, which we were close to."

Akila said she and her husband grabbed their kids and "tried to take cover," ultimately deciding to return to their home — in the evacuation zone — instead of risking another attempt at escape that day.

The strike on the convoy came after the IDF gave Palestinians just 24 hours to flee northern Gaza ahead of a possible ground offensive. After that deadline passed, it gave them another six hours to evacuate. That deadline has now also passed.

"Civilians of Gaza City, evacuate south for your own safety and the safety of your families and distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields," the IDF said Friday.

Despite Hamas urging residents to stay, the order has triggered a mass exodus. Thousands of Palestinians crowded roads on Saturday in a desperate attempt to reach the southern half of the blockaded territory.

Early Saturday, authorities in Gaza said the death toll from Israel's bombardment had eclipsed 2,200, including more than 700 children. Israel launched what is believed to be its most intensive air campaign against Gaza after militants from the Palestinian territory last week killed more than 1,300 Israelis, the vast majority civilians.

Speaking from Deir el-Balah, a city in central Gaza, Akila said she is still unsure she made the right decision.

"We don't know where to go," she said. "Nowhere is safe now. The bombing is everywhere. We can hear it even in the claimed safe area. We can hear it. It's right around us and very close."