“Just carry your son and run, we don’t have anything with us,” said one man, Mohammad al-Hadad as he fled Rafah. Some who fled overnight were able to return Friday, throwing their belongings atop vehicles or wagons pulled by donkeys and setting off.

“We do not know where we can go,” said a woman, Ghada Qudeh. “Since yesterday, we have not found food or drink." Her family fled after Israeli forces fired missiles at a house where they were sheltering Thursday.

Israeli occupation forces opened fire on tents housing displaced people in the Shakoush area and Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah, WAFA news agency reported.

Shelling of makeshift refugee centers and housing for displaced people was continued by Israeli forces in the Al-Mawassi area, northwest of Rafah city, for the third day in a row killing several Palestinians. 

A displaced Palestinian child looks on as people gather their belongings to evacuate the Mawassi area on the outskirts of southwestern Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

The Israeli occupation army said its forces were continuing to operate in Rafah but did not immediately comment on specific strikes. The army said one soldier had been killed during combat overnight in Rafah.

The people fleeing Rafah are some of the last holdouts in a city that was once filled with displaced Palestinians. However, Israel's ground invasion since early May has driven nearly everyone who sought shelter there to leave. The United Nations estimates that 1.3 million people have been displaced out of Rafah — more than half of Gaza’s entire population — and only 65,000 remain.

International criticism is growing over the nearly nine-month Israeli war on Gaza as Palestinians face severe and widespread hunger. Israeli forces have largely cut off the flow of food, medicine, and basic goods to Gaza, and people there are now totally dependent on aid. The top United Nations court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza by Israeli forces.

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership said around 495,000 people -- around 22 per cent of the Gaza population, according to the UN -- are still facing "catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity" known as IPC Phase 5. Another 745,000 people are classified as in a food security emergency.

New Israeli attack on Gaza City intensifies
 

Israeli warplane bombed a house belonging to the Abu Khadra family on Al-Wehda Street in Gaza City. The attack killed four civilians, including two children, and wounded 10 others, WAFA reported.

Simultaneously, Israeli artillery fired several shells toward homes in the Shuja'iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

Earlier in the night, two children were killed and at least five civilians injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a house near the Al-Yarmouk area in Gaza City.

The attacks have resulted in a total of 6 civilian deaths and 15 wounded in the latest escalation of violence by Israeli forces in northern Gaza.

People evacuate from the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City. AFP

Palestinians in northern Gaza said intense bombardments have forced many people to flee the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City on Friday, as the Israeli military confirmed it had launched a new offensive into areas that were heavily bombed and largely emptied early in the war.

Residents described fierce Israeli fire in Shujaiya for a second day in row, driving people to seek safety in western parts of Gaza City.

“It’s like the first weeks of the invasion,” said one man, Mahmoud al-Masry, who left his home Thursday with his parents and four siblings.

Israel's army said Friday troops had been active in the Shijaiyah area, both above and below ground, and warplanes bombed dozens of locations that it said were being used by militants, including United Nations-run schools and facilities.

The barbaric Israeli war on Gaza has killed more than 37,765 people in Gaza, mostly women and children.