Local residents and eyewitnesses say dozens of Israeli tanks and military vehicles have pushed into a major residential district of Gaza City, on the second day of Israel’s ground offensive aimed at occupying the area.

Video footage shows tanks, bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers moving on the edges of Sheikh Radwan, in northern Gaza City. Thick clouds of smoke can be seen as Israeli forces fire artillery shells and smoke bombs to cover their advance.

The Sheikh Radwan district was home to tens of thousands of people before the war and is considered one of the city’s most densely populated areas.

Israel says the aim of its Gaza City offensive is to free hostages held by Hamas and defeat up to 3,000 fighters in what it describes as the group’s “last stronghold” – but the operation has drawn widespread international condemnation.

The leaders of more than 20 major aid agencies, including Save the Children and Oxfam, warned that “the inhumanity of the situation in Gaza is unconscionable”.

Residents in Sheikh Radwan said Wednesday’s incursion followed a wave of heavy airstrikes targeting buildings and main streets across the neighbourhood, in what appeared to be preparation for the ground assault.

Saad Hamada, a local resident who fled south with his family earlier on Wednesday, told the BBC: “The drones didn’t leave anything. They hit solar panels, power generators, water tanks, even the internet network.

“Life became impossible, and that is what forced most people to leave despite the danger.”

Sheikh Radwan includes the areas of Abu Iskandar, al-Tawam, and al-Saftawi, and is intersected by al-Jalaa Street, a vital artery linking central Gaza City with its northern districts.

Locals say Israeli control of the neighbourhood could open the way for forces to advance deeper into the city and reach its central areas.

The images of tanks in Gaza City’s streets have caused widespread panic among residents, particularly those still living in the western and central parts of the city.

Witnesses said the sight of tanks approaching their homes revived memories of previous incursions, that ended with entire neighbourhoods being flattened.

The incursion into Sheikh Radwan has triggered yet another wave of displacement, with thousands of families fleeing south.

Long lines of cars and carts loaded with belongings were seen on the roads, as the Israeli army opened a route to the south via the Salahedin Road. Residents reported journeys taking hours and costing hundreds of shekels due to the scarcity of transport and soaring prices.

Before the war, Sheikh Radwan was one of Gaza City’s busiest districts, home to dozens of schools, mosques, and marketplaces.

It had already been struck repeatedly by air raids in recent months, and there is widespread destruction, but the sight of tanks inside the area now marks a significant new phase in Israel’s ground campaign.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Wednesday morning that it had struck more than 150 targets across Gaza City in two days in support of its ground troops.

As part of its operations, the IDF is also reportedly utilising old military vehicles loaded with explosives that have been modified to be controlled remotely. They are being driven to Hamas positions and detonated, according to Israeli media.

Resident Nidal al-Sherbi told the BBC Arabic’s Middle East Daily programme: “Last night was extremely difficult, with continuous explosions and shelling that lasted from night until dawn.”

“Israeli vehicles advanced from Sheikh Radwan, Tal al-Hawa, and also from Shejaiya. It was a very, very frightening night.”

Aid groups, UN agencies and others say the “humanitarian area” people are expected to move to is heavily overcrowded and insufficient to support the roughly two million Palestinians who are expected to cram into it.

Some who followed the military’s orders to evacuate to the zone say they found no space to pitch their tents, so they returned north.

“Everyday leaflets are thrown at us ordering evacuation, while the Israeli army shells buildings in every direction,” Munir Azzam, who is in northern Gaza, told the BBC. “But where can we go? We have no refuge in the south.”

The IDF said on Tuesday that around 350,000 people had fled Gaza City, while the UN put the figure at 190,000 since August. Estimates suggest at least 650,000 remain.

Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 65,062 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since then, almost half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

It said on Wednesday that 98 people had been killed and 385 injured by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours. Another four people had died from malnutrition, taking the total number of malnutrition-related deaths since a UN-backed body declared famine in Gaza City in late August to 154, it added.

The UN has warned that an intensification of the offensive will push civilians into “even deeper catastrophe”.

On Tuesday, a UN commission of inquiry said Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the report and denounced it as “distorted and false”.