"The world does not care if we all die'

A new Israeli offensive and a lack of food and medical supplies have pushed Gaza City, crowded with arrivals from the north, to the brink

- Jason Burke and Malak A Tantesh

ON THE STREETS OF GAZA CITY last week, there were two sounds that never ceased, day or night. 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 bustling commercial and cultural hub of the Palestinian territory. All are fleeing the new offensive - dubbed Gideon's Chariots-recently launched by Israel into the ruined towns and neighbourhoods of northern Gaza.

The blasts that 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 pock-marked pavements, sometimes come during direct clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas, though the militant Islamist organisation remains elusive, often underground.

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

Last 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-yearold 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 towards Gaza City."