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People on the ground and observers claim that dozens military tanks and military equipment have entered a major residential area of Gaza City, representing the following day of Israel's land campaign aimed at taking control of the territory.

Video footage depicts tanks, bulldozers and military transports advancing on the outskirts 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 conceal their progress.

The Sheikh Radwan area was home to many thousands of people prior to the war and is considered one of the city's most densely populated zones.

Israel asserts that the goal of its Gaza City campaign is to liberate hostages held by Hamas and defeat up to 3,000 combatants in what it describes as the group's "final bastion" - but the operation has drawn broad international condemnation.

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

Locals in Sheikh Radwan reported that Wednesday's advance followed a barrage of severe airstrikes hitting structures and key avenues across the district, in what seemed to be planning for the land offensive.

"Aerial devices avoided anything. They damaged solar panels, electricity sources, water tanks, even the internet network," a local resident who evacuated to the south with his family earlier on Wednesday explained.

"Existence became unbearable, and that is what forced most people to leave in spite of the danger."

Sheikh Radwan encompasses the areas of Abu Iskandar, al-Tawam, and al-Saftawi, and is intersected by al-Jalaa Street, a key route linking central Gaza City with its north neighborhoods.

Residents believe Israeli occupation of the district could create the way for forces to progress further into the city and access its central sections.

The footage of tanks in Gaza City's thoroughfares have caused extensive fear among inhabitants, especially those still staying in the west and central parts of the city.

Eyewitnesses said the presence of tanks approaching their homes reawakened reminders of earlier operations, that concluded with complete neighborhoods being flattened.

The entry into Sheikh Radwan has resulted in an additional surge of displacement, with thousands of families leaving to southern areas.

Extended queues of cars and carts filled with belongings were seen on the roads, as the Israeli army created a path to the south via the Salahedin Road. Residents reported journeys lasting hours and charging large sums of shekels due to the lack of transport and rising prices.

Before the war, Sheikh Radwan was one of Gaza City's most active neighborhoods, home to many of schools, mosques, and marketplaces.

It had already been hit repeatedly by air raids in recent months, and there is widespread destruction, but the appearance of tanks inside the area now marks a major new chapter in Israel's ground campaign.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported on Wednesday morning that it had struck more than 150 targets across Gaza City in two days in assistance of its soldiers.

As part of its operations, the IDF is also allegedly utilising old military vehicles filled with explosives that have been adapted to be operated remotely. They are being directed to Hamas positions and set off, according to Israeli media.

"The previous night was extremely difficult, with unceasing explosions and shelling that lasted from night until dawn," inhabitant Nidal al-Sherbi stated.

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

Relief agencies, UN agencies and others claim the "safe zone" people are instructed to move to is heavily overcrowded and unsuitable to sustain the roughly two million Palestinians who are projected to cram into it.

Several who obeyed the military's orders to evacuate to the zone claim they found no space to pitch their tents, so they went back north.

"Everyday leaflets are thrown at us ordering evacuation, while the Israeli army shells buildings in every direction," Munir Azzam reported. "But where can we go? We have no refuge in the south."

The IDF said on Tuesday that around 350,000 people had evacuated Gaza City, while the UN put the estimate at 190,000 since August. Calculations suggest at least 650,000 are still present.

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in answer to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 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, based on Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

It said 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 warned that an increase of the offensive will push civilians into "more severe 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 "misrepresented and false".