‘The next stage is coming’: Israel issues warning as residents flee Gaza assault

US urges restraint amid bombing of civilian evacuation convoy that left a reported 70 people dead, including women and children

Desperate Gaza City residents fled south in cars and lorries, carts and on foot on Saturday, risking death by airstrikes on the road to escape the even greater threat of an imminent Israeli ground attack on the north of the besieged enclave.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told troops massed in southern Israel that the next stage is coming", in a video shared by his office. The Israeli military announced on Saturday evening that it was preparing significant ground operations".