Nahla Jarwan fled her home in the central Gaza Strip to seek refuge in Rafah - like more than 1 million other Palestinians escaping Israel's military offensive.
Now, as Israeli shells crash into Rafah, Jarwan said she is going back to an area she fled, even though nowhere is safe.
She is one of dozens of people who residents said were leaving Rafah on Tuesday after Israeli shelling and air strikes in recent days.
"I fled Al-Maghazi, came to Rafah, and here I am, returning to Al-Maghazi," said Jarwan, referring to the refugee camp from which she fled earlier in the conflict.
"Last night in Rafah was very tough. We're going back to Al-Maghazi out of fear - displaced from one area to another; hopefully Al-Maghazi area would safe, God willing."
"Wherever we go, there is no safety," she said.
Describing Rafah as Hamas' "last bastion", Israel plans to expand its offensive there to try to eradicate the group behind the October 7 attack on southern Israel in which 1200 people were killed and over 250 abducted, according to Israeli tallies.
For Palestinians, Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip has provided sanctuary from an Israeli offensive which has killed more than 28,000 people, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
UNRWA, a United Nations agency which provides Palestinians with aid and essential services, says there are nearly 1.5 million people in Rafah, six times the population compared to before October 7.
Talks involving the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar on a Gaza truce ended without a breakthrough on Tuesday as calls grew for Israel to hold back on a planned assault on the southern end of the enclave.
The city of Rafah, whose pre-war population was about 300,000, teems with homeless people living in tent camps and makeshift shelters who fled there from Israeli bombardments in areas of Gaza further north during more than four months of war.
Israel says it wants to flush out Hamas militants from hideouts in Rafah and free Israeli hostages being held there, and is making plans to evacuate trapped Palestinian civilians.
But no plan has been forthcoming and aid agencies say the displaced have nowhere else to go in the shattered territory.
With Palestinians in Rafah "starting death in the face," United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said an Israeli ground invasion there would make humanitarian relief nearly impossible.
"Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza. They could also leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death's door," Griffiths said in a statement.
Israeli tanks shelled the eastern sector of Rafah overnight, causing waves of panic, residents said. They said displaced people - dozens so far - had begun to leave Rafah after Israeli shelling and air strikes in recent days.Rafah neighbours Egypt, but Cairo has made clear it will not allow a refugee exodus over the border.
Gaza health officials announced 133 new Palestinian deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 28,473 killed and 68,146 wounded since October 7.
Many other people are believed to be buried under rubble of destroyed buildings across the densely populated Gaza Strip, much of which is in ruins. Supplies of food, water and other essentials are running out and diseases are spreading.
About half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are now squeezed into Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said it has ordered the army to develop a plan to evacuate Rafah.
Meanwhile, South Africa asked the World Court on Tuesday to consider whether Israel's plan to extend its offensive into Rafah required additional emergency measures to safeguard the rights of Palestinians.
In a case brought by South Africa, the International Court of Justice last month ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent its troops committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel denies it is committing genocide and had asked the court to reject the case outright.
'Tired of fleeing'
Sitting in a car crammed with possessions ready to depart, Jarwan said she hoped for a quick end to the war.
"We're tired of fleeing from one city to another," she said. "I'm hoping the world stands with us and looks at us with a kind, merciful eye."
Describing Palestinian victims as martyrs, she said: "We're tired - we're always crying. Martyrs, shelling, destruction, death, starvation, thirst, there is no food."
Aid officials and foreign governments say there is nowhere for them to go. Egypt has said it will not allow an exodus of Palestinian refugees to cross into its territory.
Momen Shbair said he would return to Khan Younis, about eight km (five miles) away, after what he also described as a tough night in Rafah.
"We're lost. We don't know where to go. I pray that the whole world pressures Israel to end the war," he said, driving a donkey cart along a sand road by the sea.
"We're tired (of going) from one place to another."
Explainer: Rafah a target
Israeli air strikes have in recent days started hitting Rafah, which is in the south of the Gaza Strip and abuts the Egyptian border.
WHY IS ISRAEL PLANNING A GROUND OFFENSIVE IN RAFAH?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Rafah as the "last bastion" of Hamas, with four battalions of gunmen, and that Israel cannot achieve its goal of eliminating the group while they remain there.
Israel has sought to wipe out Hamas since the deadly October 7 attack.
The Israeli military has already swept through most of Gaza, in a campaign that has killed more than 28,000 people, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN RAFAH AND HOW ARE CONDITIONS THERE?
UNRWA, a UN agency which provides Palestinians with aid and essential services, says there are nearly 1.5 million people in Rafah, six times the population compared to before October 7.
Many of them are camped on the streets, in empty lots, on the beach and on the sandy strip of territory next to the border wall with Egypt. Others are jammed into filthy, overcrowded shelters.
Doctors and aid workers are struggling to supply even basic aid and stop the spread of disease. The Norwegian Refugee Council has called it a "gigantic refugee camp".
A doctor who recently left Gaza described Rafah as a "closed jail" with faecal matter running through streets so crowded that there is barely space for medics' vehicles to pass.
WHERE WOULD DISPLACED PEOPLE GO?
Israel ordered civilians to flee south before previous assaults on cities in the Gaza Strip, with many of them heading to Rafah.
Netanyahu's office has said it has ordered the army to develop a plan to evacuate Rafah.
But aid officials and foreign governments say there is nowhere for them to go. Egypt has said it will not allow an exodus of Palestinian refugees to cross into its territory.
HOW HAVE OTHER COUNTRIES RESPONDED TO THE PLANS?
US President Joe Biden has told Netanyahu that Israel should not proceed with an operation in Rafah without a plan to ensure the safety of people sheltering there.
Other allies of Israel, including Britain and Germany, have expressed concern about the prospect of an offensive in Rafah.
Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot has said it was "hard to see how large-scale operations in such a densely populated area would not lead to many civilian casualties and a bigger humanitarian catastrophe", calling it "unjustifiable".
Egypt has warned of "dire consequences".
Israel says it takes extensive measures to protect civilians but is forced to conduct military operations in civilian areas because Hamas operates there.
