Thousands of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza have sought refuge in what was once the largest football stadium in the area, where families live with little food or water while trying to stay one step ahead of the latest Israeli attack.

Their temporary tents embrace the shade beneath the stadium seats, where clothes hang under the July sun across the dry and dusty football field. Under the covered benches where players used to sit along the sidelines, Um Bashar bathes a small child standing in a plastic tub. The boy lathers soap into his hair, shivering as cold water is poured over his head, while he clutches the plastic seats for balance.

She said they have been displaced several times, the latest being due to renewed Israeli operations against Hamas in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.

She added, "We woke up to find tanks at the door. We took nothing with us, no mattress, no pillow, no clothes, nothing. Not even food."

She fled with around 70 others to the Yarmouk Sports Stadium, located less than two miles (three kilometers) northwest of Shujaiya, which had been heavily shelled and was largely emptied early in the war. Many people who ended up in the stadium say they have nothing to return to.

A man named Hazem Abu Thuraya said, "We left our homes, and all of our homes were bombed and burned, as well as those around us."

Hundreds of thousands of people remained in northern Gaza, even as Israeli forces besieged it and largely isolated it. However, aid flows there have recently improved, and the United Nations stated earlier this week that it is now able to meet the basic needs of people in the north. Israel claims it allows aid into Gaza and blames the United Nations for not doing enough to facilitate its delivery.

However, residents say deprivation and insecurity are taking a heavy toll.

Um Ahmad, a displaced woman, said, "There is no safe place. Safety is with God." "Fear is no longer felt now among children only, but also among adults... we don’t even feel safe when we walk in the street."