Gaza, Palestinian Territories.- On a dusty road, amidst rubble, an unbroken line of families fleeing Gaza City advances towards the south of the Palestinian enclave: some crammed into trucks or carts, others on foot with babies in their arms.

The Israeli army is carrying out an offensive in the largest settlement in the Gaza Strip, which it considers one of the last strongholds of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, and has called on the population to evacuate.

Israeli authorities estimate that one million people will leave Gaza City, located in the north of the Strip, to relocate to the south of the enclave, devastated by nearly two years of conflict.

But many residents fear they are not safe in the south, as Israel has repeatedly bombed areas it urged civilians to move to.

In the long line of people fleeing, you can see a man in a wheelchair holding a child and another walking with difficulty on crutches. Many exhausted families carry their belongings on their heads or shoulders.

Most Gazans have already been displaced several times since the war began on October 7, 2023, triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel.

Mohamed Ghazal, 32, who fled the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, says attacks were relentless in his area.

"We are living in a state of panic and extreme fear. The bombing hasn't stopped since dawn, the explosions are intense, and the gunfire is continuous," he told AFP.

The Israeli army said on Saturday that more than 250,000 residents had already left the city. The Gaza Civil Defense put the figure at 68,000.

Given the restrictions imposed on the media in the Strip and the difficulties in accessing the news on the ground, AFP cannot independently verify the information provided by the various parties.

"Dangerous" zone

In Tel al-Hawa, southwest of Gaza City,"the bombing hasn't stopped since morning," says Um Ala Chaaban, a 45-year-old woman.

"We haven't slept all night (...) the sounds of bombing and explosions haven't stopped," he says.

According to her, Israeli troops bombed numerous homes."We were very scared, my children were screaming in terror."

Israeli forces have destroyed several residential buildings in Gaza City in recent days, and the army has stated its intention to"intensify the pace of its targeted attacks (...) in order to destroy Hamas terrorist infrastructure (...) and reduce the threat to its troops."

On Sunday, he claimed to have attacked another tower where, he said, Hamas had set up"observation posts to monitor the location of troops (...) in the area."

Civil Defense officials said at least 20 people had been killed across the Gaza Strip since dawn.

Israeli army spokesman in Arabic, Avichay Adraee, issued an"urgent warning" to residents of the Gaza port area and the Rimal neighborhood, urging them to evacuate immediately to the south.

AFP also saw leaflets warning residents of Gaza City that they were in a"dangerous combat zone."