The Israeli military said that 700,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City to the south since late August, as it presses an air and ground assault on the urban centre.
When asked, the military said that "700,000 Palestinians have evacuated" from Gaza City to the south of the Gaza Strip.
The UN's humanitarian agency, OCHA, said that 388,400 displacement movements had been recorded since mid-August, most of them from Gaza City.
The United Nations estimated at the end of August that around one million people lived in Gaza City and its surroundings, where it has declared a famine.
Israel launched a major air and ground offensive on the Palestinian territory's main urban hub, in what it says is a bid to root out Hamas after nearly two years of devastating war.
"Over the past week, strikes in Gaza city have been especially intensive, including on IDP (internally displaced person) tents, residential buildings and public infrastructure, with many resulting in high numbers of casualties," OCHA said.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 22 people across the territory on Thursday, including five in Gaza City. An air strike on a home where displaced people had taken refuge in central Gaza killed 11 people, the civil defence said.
Footage from the aftermath of the strike in Al Zawaida camp showed Palestinians digging through the rubble in a search for survivors.
"The whole place was destroyed and nothing was left fit for human use," said Youssef Younis, a resident.
Another Al Zawaida resident, Ahmed Abu Dahrouj, said: "Our message is the war must end immediately because we are experiencing an extermination."
Meanwhile, Italy's navy will assist the Gaza international aid flotilla with just one ship and not two as was previously understood, the defence ministry said, adding that the vessel would not have any escort duties.
The ministry said a frigate that was dispatched on Wednesday, hours after the convoy known as the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) was targeted by drones on its way to Gaza, would be replaced by another vessel.
Earlier on Thursday, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament that the "Alpino" frigate would be deployed in the area where the "Fasan" frigate had already been sent. - Reuters
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