On Thursday, a day before Israel announced that the entire Gaza City was considered a combat zone and stopped the tactical pauses for the entry of humanitarian aid, several Palestinians said they were not going to be displaced once again and decided to stay in the city.

On Friday, the Israeli military launched what it called the "initial stages" of a planned offensive on the city.

Gaza City residents said they will stay because they are tired, they have been displaced many times, it is costly to move out and they might not find a place in other areas south of Gaza City. Palestinians said that there is no safe place to go in the enclave.

Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and launched major ground operations there within weeks of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Several neighborhoods and key infrastructure have been almost completely destroyed.

It was Gaza’s most populous city on the eve of the war. Hundreds of thousands fled under Israeli evacuation orders at the start of the war on October 2023, but many returned during a ceasefire earlier this year.

More than 63,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the 22-month conflict, according to the health ministry that does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but that said about half of them are women and children.

On Saturday, an Israeli official said Israel will soon halt or slow humanitarian aid into parts of northern Gaza as it expands its military offensive.

The decision was likely to bring more condemnation of Israel’s government as frustration grows in the country and abroad over dire conditions for both Palestinians and remaining hostages in Gaza.

Israel has called Gaza City a Hamas stronghold, alleging that a network of tunnels remain in use by militants after several previous large-scale raids on the area throughout the war.

The U.N. said Thursday that 23,000 people had evacuated over the past week, but many Palestinians remained in Gaza City questioning the effort when there is nowhere safe to go.

The Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, 2023 when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel and abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel believes that about 20 of the almost 50 hostages still in Gaza are alive.