GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP)—UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday condemned the “endless catalogue of horrors” in Gaza, as the territory’s civil defence reported at least 31 killed by Israeli forces since dawn.

Israel, whose military is preparing to conquer Gaza City, is under mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its almost two-year offensive in the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations has declared a famine.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population of more than two million people has been displaced at least once during the war, with aid groups on the ground warning against expanding the military campaign.

“Gaza is piled with rubble, piled with bodies and piled with examples of what may be serious violations of international law,” Guterres told journalists on Thursday, calling for accountability.

On the ground on Thursday, massive clouds of smoke rose into the sky above Gaza City, AFP footage showed, after Israeli bombardments of the outskirts of the territory’s largest city.

Aya Daher, who was displaced from Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, told AFP she had no shelter and was sitting outside a local hospital “just waiting for God’s mercy.”

“There were explosions all night. I was injured, my husband was injured by shrapnel, and my son was also wounded in the head. Thank God we survived, but there were martyrs,” she said.

AFP photos from the centre of Gaza showed lines of Palestinians fleeing south in vans and cars piled high with mattresses, chairs and bags.

– ‘Moving population southward’ –

Gaza’s civil defence agency said that Israeli strikes and fire killed at least 31 people across the Palestinian territory on Thursday, including six shot while waiting for aid in the south.

When asked for comment by AFP, the Israeli military said it needed precise times and coordinates to look into the reports.

In a separate statement, it said its troops were operating against “terrorist organisations throughout the Gaza Strip”.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

In a statement on Thursday, the military said it was preparing to “expand operations against Hamas in Gaza City”, while COGAT, the defence ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said it was undertaking preparations “for moving the population southward for their protection”.

The UN estimates that nearly a million people currently live in Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surroundings in the north of the territory.

On Wednesday, the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said on X that Gaza City’s evacuation was “inevitable”.