Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Gaza City since the Israeli Defense Forces issued a general evacuation order to all residents on 9 September ahead of its planned ground offensive.
About 50,000 people fled on 15 September alone, after one of the heaviest nights of bombardment that targeted high-rise buildings and killed at least 70 people.
The I.D.F. said on 16 September about 350,000 people had fled the city, the same day it launched its ground offensive.
The I.D.F. claims Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and that Israeli hostages are being held there.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians have decided to remain, however. Some are unable to pay for transportation or they fear the travel route and hunger and lack of shelter they will experience in the overcrowded south, despite its designation by the I.D.F. as a “humanitarian area.”
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, as of 17 September, more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, most of them women and children. An independent commission of the United Nations has declared that “Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” in a statement issued on 16 September, “urging Israel and all states to fulfill their legal obligations under international law to end the genocide and punish those responsible for it.”
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