Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed dozens of people across the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, as the military pressed its assault on Gaza City that has displaced hundreds of thousands.

Israel launched a major air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip's main urban centre on September 19, in what it says is a bid to root out Hamas after nearly two years of war.

The United Nations estimated at the end of August that around one million people lived in Gaza City and its surroundings, where it has declared a famine.

The Israeli military says roughly 550,000 people have since fled the city and moved southward, while Gaza's civil defence agency -- a rescue force operating under Hamas authority -- puts the number at around 450,000.

Thaer Saqr, 39, told AFP his sister was killed as the family headed south.

"The tanks on the coastal road... opened fire on us, and my sister was killed," he said on Wednesday after returning to Gaza City.

From Al-Shifa Hospital, he said he "will not leave, even if they kill us all."

The civil defence agency........

© International Business Times