The Israeli army has subjected Gaza City to its most punishing attacks in two years of war, sending thousands of residents fleeing under bombs and bullets amid fears they might never return, with the United Nations chief calling the offensive “horrendous”.

“Gaza is burning,” Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz said on X, as columns of vans and donkey carts laden with furniture, and people on foot carrying the last of their worldly possessions, steamed down the coastal al-Rashid Street against a backdrop of black smoke rising from the destroyed city .

Many had pledged to stay in the early days of Israel’s takeover plan. But as the military accelerated the pace of its deadly bombing campaign, turning high-rises , homes and civilian infrastructure to rubble, those able to afford the

See Full Page