JERUSALEM/GAZA - Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that more than 750,000 residents have fled Gaza City as the military steps up its offensive in the enclave.

Katz said the exodus was continuing as Israel moved into what he called the "decisive" phase of its operation.

"Autonomous explosive-laden military vehicles are being deployed ahead of the forces to defuse explosives, and the fire cover to protect the maneuvering forces from the air and ground is heavy and strong," his office said in a statement.

He warned that unless Hamas releases all Israeli hostages and disarms, "Gaza and Hamas will be destroyed."

Gaza City was home to about 1 million people before Israel ordered a mass evacuation and launched its assault.

Palestinian news agency WAFA said 98 Palestinians were killed on Saturday in Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense authority in Gaza, told Xinhua that 48 bodies arrived at hospitals across Gaza on Saturday after Israeli attacks struck residential homes and tents sheltering displaced people since dawn.

Basal said that among the dead, three were killed by Israeli gunfire in front of an aid distribution center in the central Netzarim axis.

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Meanwhile, Israeli forces are advancing deeper into Gaza City. Witnesses told Xinhua that the Israeli army was launching intensive raids in surrounding neighborhoods and detonating drone-dropped bombs between houses amid heavy artillery shelling and gunfire.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Saturday that its troops "continue operational activity against the terrorist organizations throughout the Gaza Strip."

"Over the past day, the air force struck approximately 120 terror targets, including military structures, terrorists, and additional terrorist infrastructure," it added.

Humanitarian and international organizations warned of the almost complete collapse of the health system in Gaza due to the escalation of the military operation, amid fears for the remaining residents of the city, estimated at 400,000 people, of worsening humanitarian conditions.

Umm Rafik Salem, a mother of three who remained in Gaza, told Xinhua that the situation in the city was "becoming more difficult in light of the military escalation and the scarcity of food, medical and supplies."

Salem, 42, added, "Markets are scarce of goods. Vendors and kitchens that used to provide free food were displaced to the south."

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Gaza City is also facing a water crisis, with available supplies meeting less than 25 percent of daily needs, according to Assem Al-Nabih, spokesperson for the Gaza Municipality.

Al-Nabih told Xinhua that about 15,000 cubic meters of water are currently supplied each day through Israeli water company Mekorot -- an unstable amount -- in addition to around 10,000 cubic meters drawn from local wells.

Israel has been waging a large-scale war in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, following a surprise attack carried out by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel, which, according to Israeli authorities, resulted in the death of about 1,200 people and the detention of 251 hostages.

The two-year war has killed nearly 66,000 Palestinians, according to the health authorities in the Gaza Strip, in addition to significant destruction of buildings and infrastructure.