Thousands of Palestinian civilians trudged in a forlorn procession out of the north of Gaza seeking refuge from Israeli air strikes and fierce ground fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants.

The exodus took place in a four-hour window of opportunity announced by Israel, which has told residents to evacuate the north encircled by its armored forces or risk being trapped in the violence.

Already, more than 1.5 million people in Gaza have fled their homes in search of safety, and the exodus has grown as Israel's air and ground campaign intensifies, according to UN observers.

About 15,000 people fled on Tuesday, compared with 5,000 on Monday and 2,000 on Sunday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

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Hamas has accused the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) of "colluding" with Israel in the "forced displacement" of residents of Gaza.

"UNRWA and its officials bear responsibility for this humanitarian catastrophe, in particular the residents of the Gaza (City) area and north of it" who are following Israeli military orders to flee south, said Salama Maruf, head of the Hamas media bureau.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the number of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip shows that there is something "clearly wrong" with Israel's military operations against Hamas fighters.

'Humanity will lose its meaning'

While strongly condemning the Hamas attack on Israel, Guterres said that "we need to distinguish – Hamas is one thing, the Palestinian people (are) another. If we don't make that distinction, I think it's humanity itself that will lose its meaning."

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, after the militants killed 1,400 people and took more than 240 hostages in the October 7 attack. Israel has attacked Gaza – an enclave of 2.3 million people – from the air, imposed a siege and launched a ground invasion. 

"There are violations by Hamas when they have human shields. But when one looks at the number of civilians that were killed with the military operations, there is something that is clearly wrong," Guterres said.

Palestinian officials said 10,569 people have now been killed in Gaza, 40 percent of them children. 

An independent UN expert said the widespread and systematic bombardment of housing and civilian infrastructure in Gaza amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity. But Israel says it will not agree to a ceasefire before the hostages are released. Hamas says it will not stop fighting while Gaza is under attack.

Qatar mediating brief ceasefire

Qatar is mediating negotiations between Israel and Hamas for the potential release of a number of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a humanitarian pause, a source briefed on the talks told reporters.

"Negotiations mediated by the Qataris in coordination with the U.S. are ongoing to secure the release of 10-15 hostages in exchange for a one- to two-day ceasefire," the informed source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the talks' sensitivity.

Meanwhile, the central and southern parts of the besieged Palestinian enclave also came under fire again as the war between Hamas fighters and Israel entered its second month.

At least 19 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house near a hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, the Palestinian interior ministry said.

Palestinian health officials said an airstrike that hit houses in the Nuseirat refugee camp killed 18 people. In Khan Younis, six people, including a young girl, were killed in an air strike.

"We were sitting in peace when all of a sudden an F16 air strike landed on a house and blew it up, the entire block, three houses next to each other," said a witness, Mohammed Abu Daqa.

"Civilians, all of them civilians. An old woman, an old man and there are others still missing under the rubble."

Qatar-based Al Jazeera media network reported a "massive" spike in Israeli attacks. 

Reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the network's correspondent Abu Azzoum said a car was targeted near al-Yemen Hospital in northern Gaza.

'Relentless attacks'

Artillery bombardments also continued in the Shati refugee camp, he added.

"These relentless attacks that took place during the last hour [are] … massive," Abu Azzoum added.

An Israeli raid on Bethlehem has left at least 64 Palestinians injured and led to the evacuation of around 100 children from an orphanage that was tear gassed, according to the Palestine Red Crescent.

Chief Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said combat engineers were using explosive devices to destroy a Hamas tunnel network that stretches for hundreds of kilometers (miles) beneath Gaza.

In a statement, the military said it had destroyed 130 tunnel shafts so far. 

"Combat engineers fighting in Gaza are destroying the enemy's weapons and are locating, exposing and detonating tunnel shafts," it said.

Israel says 33 of its soldiers have been killed.

Thousands of Palestinians flee

UN officials and G7 world powers stepped up appeals for a humanitarian pause in the conflict to help alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza, where whole neighborhoods have been razed by Israeli bombardment and basic supplies are running out.

Thousands of Palestinians fleeing from the north wearily made their way in a long line past wrecked and bomb-scarred buildings, witnesses said.

The Israeli military had told them they should move south of the Wadi Gaza wetlands along the main Salah al-Din Road. Huge numbers of displaced people from among Gaza's 2.3 million population are already crammed into schools, hospitals and other sites in the south.

Thousands of others remain inside the encircled north, including at Gaza City's main Al Shifa hospital.

Israel has so far been vague about its long-term plans if it achieves its stated objective of vanquishing Hamas.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters in Washington that Israel has no intention of reoccupying the Gaza Strip or controlling it for "a long time."

"We assess that our current operations are effective and successful, and we'll continue to push," the official said. "It's not unlimited or forever."

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