Thousands Of Palestinians Flee As Israeli Troops Push Into Gaza City

Last Updated:September 17, 2025, 20:26 IST

As Israel continued to ramp up its strikes in and around Gaza City, Palestinians have been fleeing using vehicles such as donkey carts, rickshaws and even on foot.

Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip. (IMAGE: REUTERS)

As Israel continues to carry out ground offensive on the second day to occupy the area, thousands of Palestinians are fleeing the Gaza City.

BBC quoted Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry as saying that al-Rantisi children’s hospital was targeted in three separate Israeli attacks overnight, forcing half of its patients and their families to flee. In response, the Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

Meanwhile, other hospitals reported 35 deaths across Gaza, mostly in the north, due to Israeli fire.

The Israel Defence Forces on Wednesday said that they have carried out 150 air and artillery strikes before the ground operation that began early on Tuesday morning.

According to The Guardian, several of the airstrikes brought down apartment blocks in the midst of tented camps inhabited by displaced people. However, Israel claimed the buildings were being used by Hamas for surveillance.

As Israel continued to ramp up its strikes in and around Gaza City, Palestinians have been fleeing using vehicles such as donkey carts, rickshaws and even on foot.

Till now, they were forced to opt the main coastal road to reach an Israel-designated “humanitarian area” in al-Mawasi.

On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it would temporarily open a second route for people to travel on – the central Salah al-Din road. It said the route would be open for 48 hours from 12:00 local time, BBC reported.

Meanwhile, families of the 48 remaining hostages held by Hamas staged protests near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday and Wednesday, arguing that the offensive would endanger their loved ones.

“All day long, you boast about killing and destruction,” Macabit Mayer, aunt of hostages Gali and Ziv Berman, told BBC. “Bringing down buildings in Gaza – who are you bringing these buildings down on?”

This comes days after the United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

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