The Israeli military began a ground offensive in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday, with two IDF divisions moving into the city.
The Israeli military began a ground offensive in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday, with two IDF divisions moving into the city.
Hundreds of thousands of people have evacuated Gaza City in recent weeks after Israel announced plans to launch a major offensive into the strip’s largest urban area — an operation that began overnight into Tuesday.
People are traveling with their belongings piled on top of flat-bed trucks, in cars, by bike or on foot if necessary.
ABC News spoke with a man who said he was evacuating south on foot.
“This is not life. We’re losing. We lost our homes, children and money,” Ibrahem Hashem Shamallakh said. “There’s no transportation. There’s nothing. I will shelter myself with a blanket if I have to.”
Joumana Mabhouh has been displaced several times during the war, she said.
“To displace from north to south, it’s not just losing your house, it’s losing Gaza itself,” Mabhouh said. “We are really tired of these difficult conditions in the Gaza Strip.”
Mabhouh said people are traveling south without “basic food supplies.”
“As you can see people coming from the north, from north to south without basic food supplies, and the mothers are trying to calm their children with empty hands,” she said.
About 400,000 people had evacuated Gaza City as of Wednesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Some 600,000 people are thought to remain in Gaza City.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Ellie Kaufman