Israeli military sources say 800,000 people have fled Gaza City

Some 800,000 Palestinians have now left Gaza City due to the ongoing ground offensive by the Israeli army, Israeli military sources said on Monday.

In the days prior, Israel had estimated that some 700,000 people had fled.

Before the start of the latest offensive by the Israeli army, around 1 million residents and internally displaced people lived in the city.

The figures could not initially be independently verified. There are currently no up-to-date Palestinian estimates on the number of people who have fled the city.

Eyewitnesses confirm that people continue to flee from the area to the south of the Gaza Strip. However, they said that the numbers have decreased.

Israel’s army began a highly controversial ground offensive in Gaza City about two weeks ago, aiming to dismantle the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas there. This triggered a mass exodus.