Israeli forces have pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area, Reuters reports.

Local health authorities said Israeli gunfire and strikes killed at least 18 people today, including 13 who tried to get food from near an aid site in the central Gaza Strip, and at least two in a house in Gaza City.

Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighbourhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout yesterday and today, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.

“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.

“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighbourhood.