More than a quarter of a million people have left Gaza City in recent weeks, according to the Israeli military.
The mass exodus follows intensified airstrikes and warnings from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) urging residents to evacuate the densely populated urban center.
Colonel Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, said on X: “According to IDF estimates, more than a quarter of a million residents of Gaza City have moved out of the city for their own safety.”
On Saturday, Israeli forces dropped leaflets across western Gaza City, instructing civilians to leave immediately. The notice read: “The Israeli army is operating with very intense force in your area and is determined to dismantle and defeat Hamas.
For your safety, evacuate immediately via Al-Rashid Street to the south of Wadi Gaza. You have been warned.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defence agency reported continuous airstrikes, including strikes on high-rise buildings that the military claims were used by Hamas militants.
According to the agency, five people were killed since dawn Saturday, while at least 50 people died in strikes across the territory on Friday.
For many civilians, leaving is not an option. Umm Anas al-Ashqar, a Gaza City resident, told AFP: “Every night we go to sleep not knowing if we will wake up alive.
The bombing around us never stops… We stayed in our house because we have nowhere else to go… This is not life. Death would be easier than this.”
The United Nations estimates that around one million Palestinians live in and around Gaza City.
Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that the Israeli offensive risks worsening the already dire humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
The UN has already declared a famine in Gaza, raising urgent concerns about displacement, hunger, and access to medical care.
Media restrictions in Gaza and the difficulty of accessing key areas mean independent agencies, including AFP, cannot fully verify the casualty figures or the scale of displacement.
However, the UN and international observers continue to call for restraint.
Israel insists its military campaign is focused on dismantling Hamas, which it describes as entrenched in Gaza City’s remaining strongholds.
