How will we survive? Hunger and airstrikes push Palestinians south

On the streets of Gaza City this week there were two sounds that never ceased, day or night.

- Jason Burke Malak A Tantesh Gaza City

In the west, the Mediterranean breakers crashed on the rubbish-strewn shoreline. In the east, the shells, missiles and rockets exploded with dull thuds and occasional ear-splitting cracks.

At least 100,000 people have come to Gaza City, once the main bustling commercial and cultural hub of the Palestinian territory. All are fleeing the new offensive - codenamed Operation Gideon's Chariots - which was recently launched by Israel into the ruined towns and neighbourhoods of northern Gaza.

The blasts the newly displaced can hear as they crowd into makeshift shelters and hastily constructed encampments, or simply set up their tents or tarpaulins on the pockmarked pavements, sometimes come during direct clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas, though the group remains elusive, often underground.

Much more often, they are the sounds of airstrikes and artillery bombardment which have killed about 750 and injured 2,000 over the past week, mostly women and children, according to medical officials in the devastated territory.

On Wednesday, Mohammed Abu Nadi moved his family from Jabaliya, a neighbourhood east of Gaza City that has been reduced to ruins in multiple Israeli offensives and raids. "What happened this week was another escalation... There were relentless bombings everywhere," the 33-year-old said. "My friend was on his way to get a vehicle to move his family to Gaza City, but when he returned, he found his home reduced to rubble. His wife and children were all killed.

"They were just young children, innocent civilians with no involvement in anything. I was shocked when it happened. I quickly carried my wife and family and left the area heading toward Gaza City."