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People on the ground and observers state that dozens military armored vehicles and army equipment have advanced into a major civilian district of Gaza City, representing the following day of Israel's military operation designed to occupying the zone.

Video footage depicts armored vehicles, bulldozers and armored personnel carriers moving on the perimeter of Sheikh Radwan, in northern Gaza City. Heavy clouds of smoke can be seen as Israeli forces fire artillery shells and smoke bombs to mask their advance.

The Sheikh Radwan neighborhood was home to many thousands of people prior to the conflict and is viewed as one of the city's most densely populated zones.

Israel asserts that the objective of its Gaza City offensive is to free captives held by Hamas and overcome up to 3,000 militants in what it labels as the group's "final bastion" - but the mission has provoked extensive international condemnation.

The representatives of over 20 major aid organizations, including Save the Children and Oxfam, cautioned that "the brutality of the conditions in Gaza is unacceptable".

Residents in Sheikh Radwan reported that Wednesday's incursion came after a wave of heavy airstrikes targeting structures and key avenues across the district, in what seemed to be planning for the ground assault.

"Unmanned aircraft didn't leave anything. They damaged solar panels, electricity sources, storage containers, even the internet network," a local resident who evacuated to the south with his family previously on Wednesday explained.

"Existence became unsustainable, and that is what forced most people to leave regardless of the peril."

Sheikh Radwan contains the zones of Abu Iskandar, al-Tawam, and al-Saftawi, and is crossed by al-Jalaa Street, a key route connecting central Gaza City with its north areas.

Residents report Israeli control of the district could create the way for forces to advance deeper into the city and access its core sections.

The images of tanks in Gaza City's streets have provoked widespread fear among inhabitants, particularly those still residing in the west and central parts of the city.

Eyewitnesses stated the presence of tanks moving near their homes revived memories of previous advances, that finished with whole neighborhoods being leveled.

The entry into Sheikh Radwan has resulted in an additional stream of displacement, with numerous families of families escaping south.

Extended queues of cars and carts packed with items were observed on the roads, as the Israeli army opened a route to the south via the Salahedin Road. Locals mentioned journeys lasting hours and costing large sums of shekels due to the scarcity of transport and soaring prices.

Before the conflict, Sheikh Radwan was one of Gaza City's most active districts, host to scores of schools, mosques, and commercial areas.

It had already been targeted repeatedly by aerial attacks in recent months, and there is widespread destruction, but the appearance of tanks inside the area now marks a significant new stage in Israel's land offensive.

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 ground troops.

As part of its operations, the IDF is also allegedly employing old military vehicles equipped with explosives that have been altered to be guided remotely. They are being directed to Hamas positions and detonated, as reported by Israeli media.

"Last night was incredibly difficult, with unceasing explosions and shelling that lasted from night until dawn," resident Nidal al-Sherbi told.

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

Aid groups, UN agencies and others state the "designated region" people are instructed to move to is heavily overcrowded and inadequate to accommodate the approximately two million Palestinians who are anticipated to occupy it.

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

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

The IDF stated on Tuesday that about 350,000 people had evacuated Gaza City, while the UN put the figure at 190,000 since August. Projections suggest at least 650,000 remain.

Israel began its war 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, according to 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 warned that an intensification 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 "misrepresented and false".