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Living conditions have worsened and threats have increased for the death toll to rise across the devastated territory.
Israeli jets and tanks have bombed the eastern and northern suburbs of Gaza City, destroying buildings and homes, as Israeli leaders vowed to press ahead with a full-scale offensive on the city.
Witnesses reported the sound of continuous explosions overnight, from Saturday night into Sunday morning in the areas of Zeitoun and Shejaia. Meanwhile, tanks shelled homes and streets in the nearby Sabra neighborhood while several buildings were blown up in the northern area of Jabaliya.
The fire lit up the sky with explosions, causing panic and prompting some families to flee the city. Other residents said they would rather die than leave.
About 2 million Gazans currently live in Gaza City. Several thousand have already left, transporting their belongings in vehicles.
"I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City. No place is safe, but I can't take the risk. If they suddenly start the invasion, they will use heavy attacks ," Mohammad, 40, told Reuters.
Others said they would not leave, despite the explosions.
"We will not leave, let them bomb our homes. We are hungry, scared and we have no money," said Aya, 31, who had a family of eight, adding that they could not afford to buy a tent or pay for transportation even if they tried to leave.
Earlier, Israel approved a plan for an expanded military offensive to take control of Gaza City.
Forces are not expected to move into the largely destroyed city center for several weeks, leaving room for mediators Egypt and Qatar to try to restart ceasefire talks.
However, Israeli forces have bombed the city and surrounding areas and said forces had returned to fighting in the Jabaliya area in recent days.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue the offensive, which has raised alarm abroad and opposition at home. On Friday, Katz said Gaza City would be razed unless Hamas militants agreed to end the war on Israel's terms and release all hostages it still holds.
Hamas said on Monday that Israel's plan to seize control of Gaza City showed it was not serious about the ceasefire. It said a ceasefire agreement was "the only way to return the hostages," accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being responsible for their lives.
UN-backed experts said Friday that a “completely man-made” famine is occurring in Gaza’s largest city and the surrounding area. Living conditions have deteriorated and threats of a rising death toll have mounted across the devastated territory.
"This famine is entirely man-made, it can be stopped," the report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said.
“The time for debate and hesitation is over, hunger is present and spreading rapidly… Unless a ceasefire is implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and unless essential food supplies and basic health services, nutrition and sanitation and water, are restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially,” the report also said.
On Sunday, the Gaza Health Ministry said eight more people had died from malnutrition and starvation, bringing the death toll to 289 people, including 115 children, since the start of the war.
The Associated Press reported that Israeli forces had killed four people seeking food aid on Sunday as they traveled through a military zone south of Gaza City (an area regularly used by Palestinians trying to reach a food distribution point).
Al-Awda Hospital and two witnesses told The Associated Press that the four Palestinians were killed when troops opened fire on a crowd heading toward a site run by the Israeli-backed American contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), in the Netzarim Corridor area.
Witnesses said the incident took place hundreds of meters away from the site. "The gunfire was indiscriminate ," said Mohamed Abed, a father of two from the Bureij refugee camp, adding that while many people had fled, others fell to the ground after being shot.
Abed and Aymed Sayyad, another Palestinian seeking food in the crowd, said troops opened fire when a group headed toward a food distribution site.
The Israeli military and the GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment./ Adapted from The Guardian.
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