Palestinians head southward after Israel launched ground assault on Gaza City

GAZA CITY: Displaced Palestinians headed southward on Wednesday (September 17), a day after Israel unleashed a long-threatened ground assault on Gaza City, declaring "Gaza is burning" as Palestinians there described the most intense bombardment they had faced in two years of war.

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Civilians are evacuating Gaza City, many on foot or in carts, as Israel advances its military campaign against Hamas.
Israel urges people to move south, but the UN and others say this is forced displacement with poor conditions in aid zones.
The conflict has caused heavy casualties, with over 64,000 Palestinians killed since Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel.

Some on foot and others in vehicles or carts, people carried their belongings as they moved from Gaza City across a coastal area in central Gaza.

Israel says the offensive to take control of Gaza City is part of a plan to defeat Palestinian armed group Hamas for good and that it has warned civilians to head south to a designated humanitarian zone.

However, the U.N. and numerous countries say its tactics amount to forced mass displacement and that conditions in the humanitarian zone are dire, with food in short supply.

Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, Israeli tallies show. Israel's military assault against Hamas has killed over 64,000 Palestinians, Gaza's health ministry says.