Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to leave Gaza City over the past day, bringing the total number of those who left the area in recent weeks to around 200,000, according to estimates by the Israeli military, The Times of Israel reports.

“Around one million Palestinians were estimated to be residing in Gaza City before the IDF began to prepare for a major offensive against Hamas there,” the report said.

The Israeli forces on Tuesday had ordered all residents of Gaza City to leave immediately ahead of the planned offensive.