Gaza City residents say Israel carried out intense overnight bombardments as it prepares a controversial offensive to take control of the area.
Sixty-thousand reservists are being called up after Benjamin Netanyahu‘s security cabinet approved the plan earlier this month.
UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned of more “death and destruction” if Israel tries to seize the city, while France’s Emmanuel Macron said it would be a “disaster” that would lead to “permanent war”.
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Hundreds of thousands of people could end up being forcibly displaced – a potential war crime, according to the UN’s human rights office.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least 70 people had been killed in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours, including eight people in a house in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City.
Israel currently controls about 75% of the Gaza Strip, but Prime Minister Netanyahu has said Israel must take Gaza City to “finish the job” and defeat Hamas.
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Mr Netanyahu and his ministers are due to meet on Thursday to discuss the plans, according to Israeli media.
Military spokesperson Effie Defrin said earlier that “preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack” had begun – with troops operating on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Israel has said it will order evacuation notices before troops move in but satellite images show thousands of people have already left.
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Residents said shelling has intensified in the Sabra and Tuffah neighbourhoods and that those fleeing have gone to coastal shelters or to central and southern parts of the Strip.
The decision to stay or leave is an agonising choice for many.
“We are facing a bitter-bitter situation, to die at home or leave and die somewhere else, as long as this war continues, survival is uncertain,” said father of seven Rabah Abu Elias.
“In the news, they speak about a possible truce, on the ground, we only hear explosions and see deaths. To leave Gaza City or not isn’t an easy decision to make,”
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Most of the Israeli reservists being summoned are not expected to be in a frontline combat role and the call-up is set to take a while.
The window could give mediators more time to convince Israel to accept a temporary ceasefire.
Hamas has already agreed to the proposal – envisaging 10 living hostages and 18 bodies being released in return for a 60-day truce and the freedom of about 200 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel hasn’t officially responded, but insists it wants all 50 remaining hostages released at once. Only 20 of them are still believed to be alive.
The war started nearly two years ago when a Hamas terror attack killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250.
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More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The figure doesn’t break down how many were Hamas members, but it says women and children make up more than half.
Two more people also died of starvation and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, the ministry said on Thursday, taking the total to 271, including 112 children.
COGAT, the body controlling aid into Gaza, said 250 aid trucks entered on Wednesday, with 154 pallets air-dropped.
