Displaced Palestinians move with their belongings southwards on a road in the Nuseirat refugee camp area in the central Gaza Strip following renewed Israeli evacuation orders for Gaza City on September 18, 2025. AFP
AFP journalists and witnesses saw a steady stream of Gazans heading south on foot, in vehicles and on donkey carts -- their meagre belongings piled high.
"There is artillery fire, air strikes, quadcopter and drone gunfire. The bombing never stops," said Aya Ahmed, 32, sheltering with 13 relatives in Gaza City.
"The world doesn't understand what is happening. They (Israel) want us to evacuate south - but where will we live? There are no tents, no transport, no money."
Palestinians say the cost of a ride to the south has soared, in some cases topping $1,000.
The offensive has sparked outrage among the international community, with the territory already devastated by nearly two years of war and the Gaza City area gripped by a UN-declared famine.
'Unfit for human dignity'
"The military incursion and evacuation orders in northern Gaza are driving new waves of displacement, forcing traumatised families into an ever-shrinking area unfit for human dignity," World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
"Hospitals, already overwhelmed, are on the brink of collapse as escalating violence blocks access and prevents the WHO from delivering lifesaving supplies," he warned.
Hospitals in Gaza reported that three children were among at least 12 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza City overnight.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire had killed at least 64 people on Wednesday, including 41 in Gaza City.
The Israeli military said it also operated in the southern areas of Rafah and Khan Yunis.
On Tuesday, Israel launched its US-backed ground offensive on Gaza City.
The offensive came as a United Nations probe accused Israel of committing "genocide" in the Gaza Strip, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials had incited the crime.
Navi Pillay, who headed the investigation, told AFP that she hoped Israeli leaders would one day be jailed.
"I see similarities" to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, she said, pointing to "the same kind of methods".
Spain said it will probe "human rights violations in Gaza" to assist the International Criminal Court, which has sought arrest warrants for Israeli officials over alleged war crimes.
'We don't want to die'
On Wednesday, the Israeli military announced "a temporary transportation route via Salah al-Din Street", as AFP images showed fresh bombardments.
Its Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said the corridor would remain open for just 48 hours.
The United Nations estimated at the end of August that about one million people were living in Gaza City and its surroundings. Israel says 350,000 of them have fled.
"Enough, we want to be free. We want to live, we don't want to die," said Gaza City resident Mohammed al-Danf. "Who told you we want to die? Tell Netanyahu: we don't want to die!".
The families of hostages taken by Palestinian militants in their October 2023 attack protested the Gaza City offensive in front of Netanyahu's house in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
"My boy is dying over there. Instead of bringing him back, you have done the exact opposite -- you have done everything to prevent his return," Ofir Braslavski, whose son Rom is held captive in Gaza, said, addressing the prime minister.
Israel's war has killed at least 65,141 people, mostly women and children, according to figures from the Palestinian health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.
This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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