Palestinians are scrambling to flee northern Gaza after Israel ordered nearly half the population to head south and carried out limited ground forays ahead of an expected land offensive, as the war appeared set to escalate a week after a wide-ranging Hamas attack on Israel.Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for around a million Gaza residents to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay in their homes.The UN and aid groups have said such a rapid exodus w

Palestinians are scrambling to flee northern Gaza after Israel ordered nearly half the population to head south and carried out limited ground forays ahead of an expected land offensive, as the war appeared set to escalate a week after a wide-ranging Hamas attack on Israel.Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for around a million Gaza residents to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay in their homes.The UN and aid groups have said such a rapid exodus would cause untold human suffering, with hospital patients and others unable to relocate.Families in cars, trucks and donkey carts packed with their possessions crowded a main road heading southwards from Gaza City as Israeli air strikes continued to hammer the besieged territory.