Several Palestinians fled Gaza City on Thursday (August 21) for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there.

Israeli forces escalated shelling on the Sabra and Tuffah neighbourhoods, and the Israeli military maintained its pressure on Gaza City with heavy bombardments overnight, residents said, ahead of a Thursday meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers on plans to seize the enclave's largest city.

The military a day earlier called up 60,000 reservists in a sign that the government was pressing ahead with the plan, despite international condemnation. Although one military official said that most reservists would not serve in combat and that the strategy to take Gaza City had not yet been finalized.

Calling up tens of thousands of reservists is also likely to take weeks, giving time for mediators to attempt to bridge gaps over a new temporary ceasefire proposal that Hamas has accepted, but the Israeli government is yet to officially respond to.

Israeli tanks have been edging closer to densely populated Gaza City over the past ten days. Israeli officials have said evacuation notices would be issued to Palestinians there before the military moves in.

The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when gunmen led by Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking 251 hostages including children into Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

Over 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground war in Gaza since then, according to Gaza health officials, who do not say how many were militants but have said most of those killed have been women and children.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Palestinians flee Gaza City ahead of planned offensive

VIDEO SHOWS: PALESTINIANS FLEEING GAZA CITY WITH THEIR BELONGINGS / DISPLACED PALESTINIANS IN DEIR AL-BALAH / COMMENTS FROM PALESTINIANS

RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT.

SHOWS: GAZA CITY, GAZA (AUGUST 21, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. DRIVING SHOT IN GAZA CITY STREETS

2. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS, IN VEHICLES WITH THEIR BELOGINGS, FLEEING GAZA CITY

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM SHEIKH RADWAN, NO NAME GIVEN, SAYING:

“What drove me out is the hunger, the siege, the war, the rockets falling on us, and the drones bombing all night."

MAN HEARD SAYING OFF CAMERA (Arabic): "Artillery shelling all night, people are scared."

DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM SHEIKH RADWAN, NO NAME GIVEN: "What can we do?”

4. VARIOUS OF DISPLACED PALESTINIANS ON THE STREETS

5. DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, AWAD QADDUM, SITTING BY A PICK-UP TRUCK

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, AWAD QADDUM, SAYING:

"We are being displaced from one area to another, and here we are thrown out in the street - no tent or anything, we are isolated in the streets, and no one cares about us. We have no shelter, no food, no drink or anything. Things are very, very difficult for us - we are thrown out in the street.”

7. PEOPLE MOVING ON A DONKEY CART / PEOPLE WALKING IN THE BACKGROUND

DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA (AUGUST 21, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

8. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS AT A SHELTER, BETWEEN TENTS

9. PEOPLE RIDING VEHICLES LOADED WITH BELONGINGS

10. CAR LOADED WITH BELONGINGS

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM BEIT HANOUN, BASSAM AL-SHANBARI, SAYING:

“I had to flee before the mass exodus from Gaza City occurs, as with my sickness, I won't be able to leave in the crowds. So, I left at this time, when there is still no traffic, to reach the south and try to find a shelter for my family.”

12. AL-SHANBARI RIDING CAR

13. BELONGINGS ON TOP OF CAR

14. VARIOUS OF DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, MOHAMMED AL-SHARIF, FIXING A TENT

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, MOHAMMED AL-SHARIF, SAYING:

“I swear to God, the situation is difficult. The missile attacks made us leave, and we were afraid of a mass exodus when everyone leaves, so we won't find transportation or any other means to leave. We managed our situation and decided to find a safe and quiet place so we could live and settle down.”

16. VARIOUS OF AL-SHARIF FIXING TENT

17. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, MOHAMMED AL-SHARIF, SAYING:

“There’s no safety at all. At any moment, you might find a rocket falling in the area you’re in. Just the other day, they hit a room in a building next to us, and we were lucky to be spared. I won't tell you about the shrapnel and all. Just because they are targeting someone or hit someone wanted or so, we may be attacked too. So we said we'd keep it minimal and try our best, trust in God... If we could secure a place, that’s great, then what the military says, we leave. What can we do? It is not in our hands."

18. TENTS IN A SCHOOL-TURNED SHELTER