onditions in overcrowded coastal encampments for displaced Palestinians in Gaza are so desperate that some people who fled Israel's new offensive on famine-struck Gaza City in recent days are heading back towards the falling bombs, they told Reuters.

Those fleeing are mainly seeking shelter either in the area by the sea immediately west of Gaza City or in Mawasi, a sprawling tent camp along beaches and farmland in the south that Israel has designated a humanitarian zone, aid agencies said.

Many of them are arriving to find no space for shelter, few tents, inadequate water supply and restricted health care, according to over a dozen Palestinians who had made the difficult trip with their families and who, along with UNICEF and the Hamas-run Gaza government, spoke to Reuters for this story.

"I have been in the sun for two days looking for a place and could not find any. Now I had to take my belongings and go back to Gaza City," said Mohammed al-Sherif, who left the Sabra district of Gaza City along with his family and those of his two brothers on Monday after Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets on the area warning all civilians to get out.

With many motor vehicles destroyed and little petrol, travel inside Gaza is slow and expensive. Sherif's family loaded all their belongings on a donkey cart and went to Mawasi, where Reuters video showed them trudging through densely packed camps, but they have no tent and could find nowhere to stay, he said.

"This is not our situation only, but everyone's. People come, don't find a shelter or a place, then leave and go back to danger. We don't know what to do," he said.

Satellite images reviewed by Reuters showed large areas of Mawasi jammed with tents even before the current arrivals, though some apparent fields remained.

Barely any agricultural land is still available in Gaza where aid agencies have cited the lack of space to grow food as a significant contributor to widespread malnutrition.

Other images showed increases in tent cover from August 20-September 10 along the coast in Mawasi and at al-Shati camp near Gaza City.

Israel began ramping up its attack on Gaza City late last month, saying it aimed to free remaining hostages held by Hamas from its October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war, the bloodiest bout of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It has said all civilians should leave the city and go to Mawasi, which it has designated a humanitarian zone.

Israeli forces killed 11 people in strikes on various parts of Gaza City on Thursday and five in a strike on the al-Shati camp, according to medics and local health authorities. In August, a global hunger monitor said Gaza City was in famine.

Despite Israel's call for the population to leave, the Hamas-run Gaza government estimates that 1.3 million of Gaza's roughly 2 million total population remain in Gaza City and the north.

Displacement is accelerating. The CCCM, an inter-agency working group that includes U.N. bodies and other aid organizations, recorded 20,000 people fleeing Gaza City from August 31 to September 7. From September 7 to September 10 it recorded another 25,000 leaving the city, mostly for the south.

The U.N. humanitarian country team, a grouping of U.N. agencies working in Gaza, rejected Israel's description of Mawasi as a humanitarian zone.

"It has not taken effective steps to ensure the safety of those forced to move there and neither the size nor scale of services provided is fit to support those already there, let alone new arrivals," the team said in a statement on Wednesday.

Military spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani told Reuters there was space in the zone for people to shelter, tents, food, clean water and medical supplies.

Asked by Reuters how Israel planned to fit a million people into already overcrowded areas and provide for them, Shoshani said: "That's what we're working on. More tents, more food, more water and more medical centers in this area to make sure that people can come."

Israel has conducted strikes inside areas it has designated safe or humanitarian zones throughout the war. Shoshani said it struck Hamas fighters wherever they emerge, including Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif in Mawasi last year, and that militants hide among civilians. Hamas denies using the civilian population andproperty for military purposes.

People already in Mawasi say the crowding is so intense already that as more people arrive they fear conflict with those already established. "There is no place for them to live. People are fighting with each other," said Abu Fadi Abu Ouda, sitting in a tent in Mawasi.

At Wadi Gaza, in the center of the tiny enclave, Reuters saw displaced Palestinians heading north towards Gaza City.

"We are returning back on foot. Some people go to their relatives or someone else who booked a spot for them. We don't have any land, any tent, even the basic life necessities. I don't even have water," Ahmed Abu Deya, pushing a cart loaded with the family's belongings.

Adding to the difficult decisions Gaza City families have to make is the high cost of moving south with all their belongings.

One displaced person, Abu Ahmed, put the cost of traveling at $600 and the price of a new tent at $1,200. The Norwegian Refugee Council northern Gaza office manager Salma Altaweel estimated the cost of travel at $700 and a tent at $1,000.

Those sums are beyond most people, leaving them with a choice between staying or taking with them only what they can carry, abandoning shelter tarpaulins, mattresses, cooking pots and clothes.

The United Nations and aid agencies say Israel in practice blocked deliveries of materials for shelter for nearly six months and despite the lifting of the restriction last month only a trickle of tents is coming in.

Israel's military issued a media statement on Wednesday including pictures and maps of what it said were empty areas in Mawasi where people could pitch tents.

The maps, showing different areas to those in the satellite images reviewed by Reuters, were of land on the inland edges of the designated humanitarian zone, close to places where fighting may continue. The pictures it shared showed what appeared to be sandy ground with no sign of nearby infrastructure.

UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingrams, who was in Gaza this week, said there was very little space in Mawasi, where she had seen tents set up along the shoulder of roads. She said the inland areas there were where conditions were worst.

"A lot of the families who are coming down in this latest displacement, the available space is in that area where, for example, there might not be a water tank," she said.

Raeda el-Far, making bread over an open fire while her small children sat nearby, said she had been displaced five times. Now, after a recent Israeli evacuation order, she and her family are in a tent in central Gaza, next to a rubbish dump covered in flies, where street dogs prowl at night, she said.

"End the war. It's enough. We're really exhausted," said el-Far, the dump rising behind her. "There is no safety at all wherever you go."

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (SEPTEMBER 10, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF TENTS IN AL-MAWASI AREA OF KHAN YOUNIS, WITH MOSQUE IN THE MIDDLE

2. PEOPLE WALKING BETWEEN TENTS, CAR MOVING

3. DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM GAZA CITY WHO IS LOOKING FOR SHELTER FOR HIS EXTENDED FAMILY OF 35, MOHAMMED AL-SHERIF, SITTING ON TOP OF BELONGINGS PUT ON BACK OF DONKEY-LED CART, WITH ANOTHER MAN DIRECTING DONKEY

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM GAZA CITY WHO IS LOOKING FOR SHELTER FOR HIS EXTENDED FAMILY OF 35, MOHAMMED AL-SHERIF, SAYING:

"I was displaced from northern Gaza to western Gaza (City). We were forced (to leave) two days ago, they (Israelis) threw evacuation (orders) leaflets on us in al-Sabra (neighbourhood in Gaza City). I left looking, without shelter. This cart is with me, it doesn't include a tent or anything. I have been in the sun for two days, looking for a place, and I could not find any. Now, I had to take my belongings and go back to Gaza (City) because I have no place and no shelter. I'm not alone, it's me, my brother, and my family. We are three families and we don't know where to go. This is not our situation only, but everyone's. People come, don't find a shelter or a place, then leave and go back to danger. We don't know what to do."

5. VARIOUS OF SHERIF AND OTHERS MOVING WITH CART AND BELONGINGS

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM GAZA CITY WHO IS LOOKING FOR SHELTER FOR HIS EXTENDED FAMILY OF 35, MOHAMMED AL-SHERIF, SAYING:

"Even in the south (of Gaza), they tell us it is safe, but there isn't safety. There is no empty spaces. I wish it was about safety, whether safe or not we no longer focus on this, we would go to danger, but we want to find shelter and a place. There is nothing available from the things they (Israelis) talk about. People can't afford transportation for the road, nor... There are no basic life necessities, nothing at all, one doesn't know what to do. One has completely given up on life."

7. VARIOUS OF SHERIF AND OTHERS MOVING WITH CART AND BELONGINGS

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN FROM GAZA CITY WHO IS LOOKING FOR SHELTER FOR HIS EXTENDED FAMILY OF 35, MOHAMMED AL-SHERIF, SAYING:

"The strikes, the towers falling on our heads, the young children [citing reasons for leaving Gaza City]. For me, I would stay, but the young children and the girls, you know, women are not like men, we can endure. But when you see your son crying, your daughter crying, and your sister crying, she wants to leave. Would you bear the burden for yourself to stay? It doesn't work. You have to go live in the street for a month until you find a shelter and you won't stay in danger. We only want a safe place and a safe shelter. This is all we want."

9. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING AND CARS MOVING BETWEEN TENTS

10. DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, ABU (FATHER OF) FADI ABU OUDA, PUTTING PIECES OF WOOD ON SCALE

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, ABU (FATHER OF) FADI ABU OUDA, SAYING:

"I'm living in a miserable situation in the street in a tent, as you can see, the humanitarian situation is very difficult for us, the humanitarian situation is almost dead. There is no life, no water, no food, no proper drink. We get water once every three days."

12. VARIOUS OF ABU OUDA AND OTHERS COLLECTING PIECES OF WOOD / CHILDREN STANDING

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, ABU (FATHER OF) FADI ABU OUDA, SAYING:

"The humanitarian area they (Israelis) are talking about... there is no safe area in Gaza. There is no safe area at all. We are put here, waiting for God's mercy, we either stay alive or we die. The animals wouldn't live in our condition. Our condition does not allow... Our children are getting sick, there is not even medicine for the children."

14. VARIOUS OF WOMAN BAKING BREAD NEARBY, AND PEOPLE GATHERING AROUND HER

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN, ABU (FATHER OF) FADI ABU OUDA, SAYING:

"Those people who will be newly displaced, coming to us here in the areas we are displaced to... there is no place for them to live, people are fighting with each other... we don't know where to take them. Some people are living on the water, some people started camping on the beach with the seawater hitting them all night... They don't know where to go."

16. CHILDREN PLAYING ON SWINGSNEAR KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (SEPTEMBER 9, 2025) (PLANET LABS PBC - Must on-screen courtesy 2025 Planet Labs PBC) (MUTE)

17. SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWING TENTS AT AL-MAWASI AREA

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 9, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

18. ONGOING NEWS BRIEFING

19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNICEF SPOKESPERSON, RICARDO PIRES, SAYING:

"I heard from colleagues on the ground, whom I speak to every day, that indeed families are trying to find alternatives and following evacuation, forced evacuation orders. They’re looking at places to go outside Gaza City but when they try and do some sort of recce of whether that would be a safe option or not to move their families, they find out very quickly that the risk of trying to move out is, amazingly enough, often greater than actually staying where they are.”

20. ONGOING NEWS BRIEFING EDITOR’S NOTE: THE FOOTAGE WAS REVIEWED BY THE ISRAELI ARMY AS PART OF THE CONDITIONS OF THE EMBED. NO FOOTAGE WAS REMOVED

NEAR KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (SEPTEMBER 10, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI ARMY INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, LIEUTENANT COLONEL NADAV SHOSHANI, SAYING:

"That's what we're working on. More tents, more food, more water and more medical centres in this area to make sure that people can come and reach, and this is something we are dealing with daily."

WADI GAZA, CENTRAL GAZA (SEPTEMBER 10, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

22. VARIOUS OF VEHICLES WITH PEOPLE AND BELONGINGS MOVING

23. VARIOUS OF DISPLACED PALESTINIAN WHO IS COMING BACK TO GAZA CITY, AHMED ABU DEYA, PUSHING CART WITH BELONGINGS ON TOP

24. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN WHO IS COMING BACK TO GAZA CITY, AHMED ABU DEYA, SAYING:

"As you can see, we are going and coming (back) on foot with the cart, we are returning back on foot. Some people go to their relatives or someone else who booked (a spot) for them. For us, we don't have any land, any tent, even the basic life necessities are not there. I don't even have water."

25. PEOPLE WALKING PAST DUMP SITE / PEOPLE AND BELONGINGS AROUND TENTS ERECTED ON SIDE OF ROAD

26. PEOPLE GATHERING NEXT TO TENTS AND BELONGINGS

27. DISPLACED PALESTINIAN WHO COULD NOT FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO SHELTER AND REMAIN NEXT TO A WASTE DUMP WITH A FAMILY OF SIX, RAEDA EL-FAR, SITTING NEXT TO TENT AND BAKING BREAD

28. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN WHO COULD NOT FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO SHELTER AND REMAIN NEXT TO A WASTE DUMP WITH A FAMILY OF SIX, RAEDA EL-FAR, SAYING:

"When they (Israelis) asked us to move this time, there is no space at all, there are no places (to go to) at all, so we had to camp next to the waste dump, and we don't know what to do. The waste dump is full of diseases, there are flies and dogs. We can't but we had to. I'm worried about my children, the dogs are around us all night. It is difficult and we had to do that."

29. VARIOUS OF FAR BAKING, WITH HER CHILDREN STANDING NEXT TO HER

30. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED PALESTINIAN WHO COULD NOT FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO SHELTER AND REMAIN NEXT TO A WASTE DUMP WITH A FAMILY OF SIX, RAEDA EL-FAR, SAYING:

"My message to the world: feel for us, help us, stand by us, stop the war, end the war. It's enough, we are really exhausted, tired, we are displaced all the time. We were displaced from our country, from our homes, from our places. We have been displaced about five times from the same place. It is a humiliation, (we are carrying) belongings and children. There is no safety at all wherever you go."

31. VARIOUS OF FAR BAKING NEXT TO CHILDRENNEAR GAZA CITY, GAZA (AUGUST 23, 2025) (PLANET LABS PBC - Must on-screen courtesy 2025 Planet Labs PBC) (MUTE)

32. SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWING TENTS AT AL-SHATI CAMP

NEAR GAZA CITY, GAZA (SEPTEMBER 9, 2025) (PLANET LABS PBC - Must on-screen courtesy 2025 Planet Labs PBC) (MUTE)

33. SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWING EXPANSION OF TENTS AT AL-SHATI CAMP NEAR DEIR AL BALAH, GAZA (AUGUST 20, 2025) (PLANET LABS PBC - Must on-screen courtesy 2025 Planet Labs PBC) (MUTE)

34. SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWING TENTS IN WHAT ISRAEL DESIGNATED AS HUMANITARIAN AREA NEAR DEIR AL BALAH, GAZA (SEPTEMBER 8, 2025) (PLANET LABS PBC - Must on-screen courtesy 2025 Planet Labs PBC) (MUTE)

35. SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWING EXPANSION OF TENTS IN WHAT ISRAEL DESIGNATED AS HUMANITARIAN AREA