A Palestinian man who lives in Gaza says residents fear they are "under imminent threat of death" as Israeli retaliatory air strikes against militant group Hamas continue in the narrow strip home to over 2 million.
The Israeli military said on Monday it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and was imposing a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, in a sign it may be planning a ground assault.
Strikes in the densely-populated strip, which is about 10 kilometres wide and 41km long, continued overnight as Israeli forces retaliated following one of the bloodiest attacks in Israel’s history.
Hamas militants launched an air and ground assault in Israel on Saturday, killing at least 900 Israelis and holding dozens captive in Gaza.
In response, Israeli air strikes hit housing blocks, tunnels, a mosque and homes of Hamas officials in Gaza, killing more than 400 people, including 20 children, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a "mighty vengeance" against Hamas.
Videos and pictures show entire buildings in Gaza flattened by the strikes.
Akram Al Sattari, a resident of Gaza, said people were taking refuge in schools and have fled their homes in fear of strikes, after being warned by Israeli forces to leave.
"People are under imminent threat of death," he told SBS News from Gaza.
"People are not only afraid ... that Israel is going to bomb them, people have been seeing other houses around them being targeted and reduced to rubble by the Israeli Air Force."
Palestinian man Akram Al Sattari says residents in Gaza fear a bomb strike by Israeli forces. Credit: Supplied
Al Sattari said people were surviving on four hours of electrical supply a day and limited water.
"With no electricity, it's almost impossible to pump the water so people ended up living almost without."
A high rise building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Sunday. Source: AP / ap
What is the Gaza blockade?
About 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza are 'locked in', with most unable to access the outside world, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
This limits their access to medical treatment unavailable in Gaza, to higher education and employment and economic opportunities.
OCHA says in the past, Palestinian patients have died while awaiting a response to their application to leave Gaza for medical treatment.
Almost 80 per cent of piped water in Gaza is unfit for human consumption.
Palestinians and aid groups say the blockade amounts to collective punishment but Israel says the blockade is needed to protect Israeli citizens from Hamas.
"The blockade has raised concern about collective punishment and other possible violations under international humanitarian and human rights law," OCHA said in a 2022 fact sheet.
What is Hamas?
Hamas is a Palestinian military and political group which gained power in the Gaza Strip after winning legislative elections there in 2006.
Hamas’s stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
The group - both its political and military wing - is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.
Not all Palestinians support Hamas. A 2021 poll found its support sat around 53 per cent, in a survey of 1,200 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza which asked them which group was "most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people".
