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Several Australians trapped in Gaza have taken the opportunity to evacuate after the opening of the Rafah border with Egypt.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed 20 Australians left the Palestinian enclave through the Rafah crossing.
An additional three people, who had been registered with D-F-A-T, have also crossed.
It comes after Qatar brokered a deal between Egypt, Hamas and Israel for the border crossing to open, also allowing for some injured Palestinians and other foreign nationals to leave the Gaza Strip.
Abdullah, a Palestinian-Australian who was in Gaza before the war broke out, says the situation there for civilians is dire.
"Rockets fell around my place where I live. And you should experience the fear. The building was shaking. It was something so awful. I don't want to go too much into it. I don't even want to remember it even. It is just so bad... so bad."
Israel has allowed international aid groups to send more than 200 trucks carrying food and medicine from Egypt into Gaza over the past 10 days, but aid workers say it's not nearly enough.
The United Nations Secretary-General's spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, says getting humanitarian aid into Gaza remains a desperate situation.
Mr Dujarric says Secretary General Antonio Guterres is again calling for an end to the violence.
"The Secretary-General is appalled by the escalating violence in Gaza, including the killing of Palestinians, including woman and children, in Israeli airstrikes in residential areas of the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp. Those attacks took place yesterday and today. The Secretary-General reiterates that all parties must abide by international law, international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution. He condemns, in the strongest terms, any killings of civilians.”
Israeli airstrikes have again hit apartment buildings in the Jabalia refugee camp near Gaza City for a second day in a row.
The Hamas-run government Health Ministry says it resulted in many more deaths and injuries.
The toll from Wednesday’s strikes is not yet known.
Israel’s military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, says the ground operation in the Gaza Strip is progressing as planned.
"Our troops are deep in the fighting in the Gaza Strip, in the north of the Gaza Strip. Through advanced planning and accurate intelligence and integrated and coordinated strikes from the land, sea and air, our forces broke through the Hamas front lines of defence in the north of the Gaza Strip. The heavy attacks from the air continue throughout the day and will continue in the future as well.”
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them civilians slain in the initial October 7th Hamas attack that started the fighting.
In addition, around 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to visit Israel and Jordan again this week, his third trip to Israel since war broke out.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says Mr Blinken will once again underscore the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s right to defend itself.
He will also stress the importance of minimising civilian casualties and ensuring that humanitarian assistance reaches Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
"We have made it very clear that two things are true. Number one, Hamas cannot continue to govern and administer Gaza and use it as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Israel. Number two, Gaza cannot be occupied by Israel."
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says the Palestinian death toll there has passed 8,800, including 3,600 children.
Global charity Save the Children says the number of children killed in Gaza in just over three weeks has exceeded the annual number of children killed across all the world’s conflict zones after 2019.
