The Israeli military expanded its evacuation order to the whole of Gaza City on Wednesday after sending tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing from several of the city’s neighborhoods earlier this week.

Palestinians who have held out in northern Gaza through nine months of war and extreme hunger are resisting a new push by the Israeli military to empty out the strip’s biggest city, fearing poor conditions in the south and potential limitations on ever returning.

Leaflets dropped by aircraft instruct "everyone in Gaza City" to leave what is described as a "dangerous combat zone" via designated safe routes - marked as two roads that lead to shelters in Deir al-Balah and al-Zawaida.