Lines of vehicles packed with belongings left Gaza City heading toward the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, amid Israel's expanded ground offensive.

The Israeli military, which says it wants to “destroy Hamas’ military infrastructure” hasn’t given a timeline for the offensive, but there were indications it could take months.

Many have been attempting to relocate from the city, where 1 million people once lived, to the southern Gaza Strip following Israeli military calls for a full evacuation.

Hundreds of thousands remained in the city, the territory’s largest and already in ruins from nearly two years of war and struggling with famine.

The war has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government.

U.N. agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. It does not say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 attack that started the war and abducted 251 others.

Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.