Mass killing of civilians.

"Fear, fear, it’s all fear:" Gaza City residents scramble to flee after heavy bombardment

From CNN’s Tareq Al Hilou, Abeer Salman and Nadeen Ebrahim

Let’s take you to Gaza City itself now. Shaken by a night of heavy airstrikes, residents were seen carrying what remained of their belongings as they tried to flee the enclave’s largest city, where Israel said it began its invasion Tuesday.

Footage by CNN showed destroyed houses in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, some entirely flattened, with residents hauling bags and blankets through the rubble in search of shelter further south.

The sound of Israeli drones could be heard overhead as residents told CNN that airstrikes overnight were some of the most intense they’ve seen throughout the war.

“This is bigger than a military operation, I think they are here to occupy,” Mohamed Albayani, a resident who was heading south, told CNN.

Wasfeya Albaba, a mother of six, was seen standing on the side of a road with her children, looking for a car to help carry her belongings.

She spoke about what she said was a night “similar to judgement day.”

“Strikes were one after the other. We were afraid, terrified. We couldn’t sleep. Suddenly, in the morning, we saw quadcopters right at our door,” Albaba told CNN. “We saw it, were terrified, grabbed our things and left.”

Rawan Al Salmoni, a mother of four, was sitting on the sidewalk near a destroyed building. Holding her toddler, she said she was mentally exhausted because of the repeated displacement.

She said she thought she would die in the overnight bombardment.

“We said by God, we will die here. It’s a miracle that we left,” she said.

Maysar Al Adwan, another Gaza City resident, was seen carrying mattresses and blankets over his head, with sweat pouring down his face. He said he couldn’t sleep all night.

“Fear, fear, it’s all fear,” he told CNN. “Explosions over our heads, all day.”