Israel is pounding Gaza City with some of the heaviest strikes in two years of war, according to witnesses, as it pushes ahead with an offensive to seize the territory’s largest urban centre.
Avichay Adraee, Arabic-language spokesman for the Israeli military, warned Gaza City’s beleaguered population on Friday that it would be deploying “unprecedented force” and told them to “take this opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands” moving south on al-Rashid coastal road – now the only permitted escape route.
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The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said some 450,000 people have fled the area since Israel launched its operations in August. About a million people were living in Gaza City at the time.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum related “distressing” reports from Gaza City on Friday, with people forced west towards the coastal road unable to rest under the relentless pace of attacks aimed at levelling buildings and infrastructure.
“This current military operation is completely destroying entire blocks, and there are still families who are trapped under the debris of the targeted houses, particularly in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood,” said Abu Azzoum, reporting from Nuseirat in central Gaza.
While a growing number of Palestinians may now want to leave, despite their earlier resistance, many are unable to afford the cost of renting a vehicle to take household items and furniture to the overcrowded al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza.
Still, Abu Azzoum said hundreds have embarked on the long journey, many on foot, to al-Mawasi, which has itself come under Israeli attack in the past despite being designated a “safe zone”.
‘Crawling from exhaustion’
Nivin Ahmed, 50, fled south from Gaza City to the central city of Deir el-Balah on Thursday, walking with seven family members.
“We walked more than 15km [9 miles]. We were crawling from exhaustion,” she told the news agency AFP. “My youngest son cried from fatigue. We took turns dragging a small cart with some of our belongings.”
Osama Awad, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza City, said people there have experienced “nights of horror” for a week straight due to Israel’s assault.
“The shelling and the bombing is getting closer. Shelling and F-16 planes are striking here and there, hitting houses,