A man from Bureij told BBC Arabic's Gaza Today program that his family left the camp as Israeli bombardment intensified on Tuesday.
“We are surprised that the army is conducting ground operations again in Bureij,” he said. “We were hit by shells falling on us from all directions, landing on our citizens' houses and streets… and killing many of our citizens.”
“The overall situation is very difficult,” he added. “We left home to protect our lives and the lives of our children.”
One young woman said: She said: “Fragments fell on our house and some residential apartments in our building. We all survived because we were on the lower floors.”
“We were in a residential building full of about 40 people, some of whom were residents of the building itself and others who had migrated from the north and south of Lafa… Where should we head now from Burei? ”
On Wednesday morning, Israeli airstrikes on several houses in Magazi overnight killed at least 11 people, Palestinian news agency Wafa said, citing medics and rescue workers.
It said two other people were killed in an attack on a house near the entrance to Bureij, and two more people were killed in shelling in the Abu al-Ajen area, southeast of Deir al-Balah.
Médecins Sans Frontières later said medical teams on the ground described the situation at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, one of the only functional medical facilities remaining in central Gaza, as “apocalyptic.”
The charity said most of the 70 dead and 300 injured people taken to hospital in the past 24 hours were women and children, with many suffering from severe burns, shrapnel injuries, fractures and other trauma.
“(This morning) when I entered the emergency room, the smell of blood was terrible. People are lying on the floor. People are lying outside. Bodies are being carried in white plastic bags. Families are standing over them and praying.” Karin Huster, Social Medical Adjudicator for Borders Without Borders, said in her voice message:
“It’s just an emotionally overwhelming situation. No one can handle it.”
