1.1mn Palestinians flee as Netanyahu warns of more

Palestinians struggled on Saturday to flee from areas of Gaza targeted by the Israeli military while grappling with a growing water and medical supply shortage as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops near the Gaza border that "more is coming" in Israel's response to Hamas's shock attack last week.

Israel renewed calls on social media and in leaflets dropped from the air for Gaza residents to move south, while Hamas urged people to stay in their homes, ahead of an expected land offensive. The UN and aid groups have said such a rapid exodus would cause untold human suffering, especially for hospitalised patients, older adults and others unable to relocate.

The evacuation directive covers an area of 1.1 million residents, or about half the territory's population. The Israeli military said "hundreds of thousands" of Palestinians had already heeded the warning and headed south. It said Palestinians could travel within Gaza without being harmed along two main routes from 10am to 4pm local time.

But media reports said, dozens of people, including children, were killed after convoys of Palestinians heading toward southern Gaza were hit. The BBC said it had verified that Salah-alDin street, one of the two evacuation routes, was hit. The Palestinian health ministry said that 70 people were killed in the incident.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, visited troops on the border frontline, raising expectations of an imminent invasion.

"Are you ready for what is coming? More is coming," he was heard telling several soldiers on a video released by his office.

There has been no let-up in Israel's response to the Hamas group's dawn raid last Saturday, which saw them break through the heavily fortified border and kill more than 1,300 people.