'We are exhausted': Palestinians flee Gaza City in face of deadly Israeli offensive

Gaza City, once the beating heart of Palestinian life, is now an emptied shell as thousands of residents continue to flee under the weight of Israel’s escalating ground offensive. Streets that once carried the hum of daily life are filled instead with families carrying what little they can, walking southward in search of safety that feels increasingly elusive.

The Israeli military has ordered a complete evacuation, pressing over a million residents into a mass exodus. Many describe the journey as unbearable—parents clutching children’s hands, elderly relatives leaning on makeshift supports, and the sick and wounded pushed in wheelchairs or carts.

“We are exhausted. We have no food, no medicine, and no safe place to go,” said one resident who had already fled twice before. The city, battered by weeks of air raids, faces famine and collapsing infrastructure. Hospitals overflow with the injured, while humanitarian aid struggles to reach those in need.

For many, leaving Gaza City is not a choice but a desperate measure of survival. Yet as they move further south, fear remains—nowhere in the strip feels safe from bombardment. The mass displacement underscores the catastrophic human cost of the conflict, where ordinary lives are caught in unending waves of violence.