Palestinian death toll in Gaza crossed the grim mark of 18,200, making it the deadliest-ever Gaza war, as incessant Israeli attacks on the besieged continued Tuesday.
Volcanic-like clouds of grey smoke rose over central Gaza while there were reports of night-time strikes and automatic weapons fire in Khan Yunis and bombings that shook several urban areas.
Israel had urged civilians to seek refuge in the far south, but the army has kept striking targets throughout the territory.
Umm Mohammed al-Jabri lost seven children in an air strike on Rafah, near Egypt, after fleeing there from Gaza City.
"I have four children left," said Jabri, 56. "Last night they bombed the house we were in and destroyed it. They said Rafah would be a safe place. There is no safe place."
The last death toll from the Hamas-run health ministry was 18,205, mostly women and children. It said 32 dead had arrived at Khan Yunis's Nasser hospital alone in 24 hours.
The conflict has devastated health services, with only 14 of Gaza's 36 hospitals functioning at any capacity, according to U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA.
The Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah was inundated with victims, including dozens of screaming children, after Israeli strikes on the nearby Al-Maghazi refugee camp.
Women and girls have meanwhile been forced to use scraps of cloth for menstrual periods as sanitary conditions deteriorate.
"I cut up my kid's clothes or any piece of cloth I find," said 25-year-old Hala Ataya in Rafah.
Agence France-Presse visited the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City and found at least 30,000 people taking refuge amid the rubble after Israeli forces raided the facility last month.
In the nearby Al-Rimal area, an AFP correspondent saw thousands of Palestinians had set up camp at a U.N. agency headquarters.
They had fled Israeli strikes that destroyed dozens of nearby residential buildings and shops. The correspondent said both the Islamic and adjacent Al-Azhar universities had been reduced to rubble, as had the police station.
"There is no water. There is no electricity, no bread, no milk for the children, and no diapers," said Rami al-Dahduh, 23, a tailor, who reported seeing tanks on his way to the facility on Saturday.
The UN estimates 1.9 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced. Roughly half are children.
