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People on the ground and witnesses state that scores military tanks and army vehicles have entered a significant residential neighborhood of Gaza City, representing the following day of Israel's land campaign intended to occupying the zone.

Video footage depicts armored vehicles, bulldozers and armored personnel carriers moving on the perimeter of Sheikh Radwan, in the north of Gaza City. Dense plumes of smoke can be witnessed as Israeli forces fire artillery shells and smoke bombs to mask their movement.

The Sheikh Radwan district was residence to tens of thousands of people before the war and is regarded one of the city's most densely populated zones.

Israel states that the aim of its Gaza City offensive is to liberate captives held by Hamas and neutralize up to 3,000 combatants in what it characterizes as the group's "final bastion" - but the operation has provoked extensive international censure.

The heads of over 20 prominent aid agencies, including Save the Children and Oxfam, cautioned that "the inhumanity of the situation in Gaza is inexcusable".

Residents in Sheikh Radwan said that Wednesday's advance was preceded by a wave of intense airstrikes hitting structures and primary roads across the district, in what appeared to be preparation for the land offensive.

"Aerial devices spared anything. They struck energy collectors, power generators, water tanks, even the internet network," a local resident who evacuated south with his family previously on Wednesday explained.

"Daily living grew impossible, and that is what pushed many residents to leave in spite of the danger."

Sheikh Radwan encompasses the sections of Abu Iskandar, al-Tawam, and al-Saftawi, and is intersected by al-Jalaa Street, a crucial artery joining central Gaza City with its northern neighborhoods.

Inhabitants say Israeli occupation of the neighborhood could pave the way for forces to advance further into the city and access its inner sections.

The footage of tanks in Gaza City's roads have generated extensive panic among civilians, especially those still living in the west and downtown parts of the city.

Eyewitnesses stated the sight of tanks approaching their homes brought back recollections of earlier advances, that concluded with whole neighborhoods being flattened.

The advance into Sheikh Radwan has caused yet another stream of evacuation, with numerous families of families fleeing to southern areas.

Extended queues of cars and carts loaded with possessions were observed on the roads, as the Israeli army established a corridor to the south via the Salahedin Road. People reported journeys lasting hours and costing large sums of shekels due to the scarcity of transport and rising prices.

Before the war, Sheikh Radwan was one of Gaza City's busiest areas, host to scores of schools, mosques, and shopping zones.

It had already been targeted multiple times by aerial attacks in previous months, and there is extensive destruction, but the presence of tanks inside the area now represents a notable new stage in Israel's ground campaign.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated on Wednesday morning that it had struck over 150 targets across Gaza City in two days in assistance of its ground troops.

As part of its operations, the IDF is also reportedly utilising old military vehicles equipped with explosives that have been adapted to be controlled from a distance. They are being driven to Hamas positions and set off, according to Israeli media.

"Yesterday evening was exceptionally difficult, with continuous explosions and shelling that lasted from night until dawn," local Nidal al-Sherbi stated.

"Israeli vehicles advanced from Sheikh Radwan, Tal al-Hawa, and also from Shejaiya. It was a very, very frightening night."

Humanitarian organizations, UN agencies and others claim the "humanitarian area" people are told to move to is heavily overcrowded and insufficient to sustain the about two million Palestinians who are anticipated to cram into it.

Some who followed the military's orders to evacuate to the zone report they found no space to pitch their tents, so they retreated north.

"Daily leaflets are distributed at us ordering evacuation, while the Israeli army shells buildings in every direction," a local inhabitant explained. "But where can we go? We have no shelter in the south."

The IDF announced on Tuesday that about 350,000 people had fled Gaza City, while the UN put the estimate at 190,000 since August. Estimates suggest at least 650,000 remain.

Israel began its conflict in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

No fewer than 65,062 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since then, almost half of them women and children, as reported by Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

It reported on Wednesday that 98 people had been killed and 385 injured by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours. Another four people had died from malnutrition, taking the total number of malnutrition-related deaths since a UN-backed body declared famine in Gaza City in late August to 154, it added.

The UN has alerted that an increase of the offensive will push civilians into "worsening catastrophe".

On Tuesday, a UN commission of inquiry said Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel's foreign ministry rejected the report and denounced it as "inaccurate and false".