Thousands of Gazans flooded the coast road north today after hearing that several people managed to cross a closed checkpoint towards Gaza city, despite Israel denying it was open.
An AFP journalist saw mothers holding their children's hands and families piling onto donkey carts with their luggage as they made the journey.
They hoped to cross a military checkpoint on Al-Rashid road south of Gaza city, but the Israeli army told AFP that reports the route was open were "not true".
On the other side, desperate families waited for their loved ones in the rubble of the battered main city in the Palestinian territory.
Mahmoud Awdeh said he was waiting for his wife, who has been in the southern city of Khan Younis since the start of the war on 7 October.
"She told me over the phone that people are leaving the southern part and heading to the north," Mr Awdeh said.
"She told me she's waiting at the checkpoint until the army agrees to let her head to the north," he said, hoping she would be able to cross safely.
Refuge in Rafah
During the day rumours also spread that the Israeli army was allowing women, children and men over 50 to go to the north, a claim denied by the army.
Since Israel's assault on Gaza following the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, the army has besieged the territory, telling Gazans to leave some areas and preventing them from moving across the enclave.
More than 1.5 million Palestinians have taken refuge in the southern city Rafah, according to the United Nations.
Several Gazans said they came under attack on the route and AFP footage showed people ducking for cover.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa said: "Israeli occupation forces bomb(ed) displaced Palestinians as they were trying to return to the north of Gaza through Al Rasheed street."
Wafa shared a video on X, which AFP has not verified, showing people running away from a blast.
Nour, a displaced Gazan, told AFP: "When we arrived at the (Israeli) checkpoint, they would let women pass or stop them, but they shot at men so we had to return, we didn't want to die."
The Israeli military did not offer a comment when asked by AFP.
'Too little too late'
Elsewhere in Gaza the fighting continued today after Iran launched a huge drone and missile attack on Israel overnight.
Iran's first-ever direct assault on Israeli territory came in retaliation for a deadly strike on Tehran's consulate in the Syrian capital.
The strike that Iran blamed on Israel left seven Revolutionary Guards dead, including two generals.
However, in Rafah today, Palestinians told AFP they were underwhelmed by Iran's attack on Israel.
"The Iranian response came so late, after 190 days of war," Khaled Al Nems told AFP. "You can see our suffering."
"Their response is too little too late," he added.
Walid Al Kurdi, a displaced Palestinian living in Rafah, said that "Iran's attack on Israel is not really our business".
"The only thing we care about is going back to our homes," he said.
"We are waiting for the coming 48 hours to see if (Israel) responds to Iran, or if they are playing with us and want to distract attention away from Rafah."
Israel has said it plans to send ground forces into Rafah to eradicate remaining Hamas militants there.
Amid makeshift stalls in Rafah's crowded streets, Ahmed Abu Awdeh, another displaced person, said he "hopes Iran will pressure Israel to stop the war" in Gaza.
"Otherwise, let them (the Israelis) strike not only Iran but also Syria, Jordan, and all Arab countries" for not being able to end the war, he added.
Israel and Hamas trade accusations as Gaza talks stall
Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas have accused each other of undermining negotiations for a truce in Gaza and a hostage release deal, although the talks have not collapsed.
Without explicitly rejecting the draft deal, Hamas reiterated its long-standing demands for a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which Israeli officials have repeatedly opposed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday accused Hamas of being the "only obstacle" to a deal that would free the hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel's Mossad spy agency said in a statement released by Mr Netanyahu's office that Hamas had rejected the proposal, and claimed it "proves" that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar "does not want a humanitarian deal and the return of the hostages".
Despite the apparent gulf between the two sides, the talks, mediated by Egypt, the US and Qatar, are ongoing in the Egyptian capital.
"The negotiations are not at a standstill" but the mediators will have to go back to the drawing board, said Hasni Abidi of CERMAM, a Geneva-based think tank specialising in the Mediterranean and the Arab world.
A framework being circulated in Cairo would halt fighting for six weeks and see the exchange of about 40 hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, as well as more aid deliveries into besieged Gaza.
A Hamas source told AFP that, ultimately, later stages of the ceasefire would see all hostages released, Israel withdrawing all its forces from Gaza, the lifting of the siege and the reconstruction of the territory.
However, so far, every attempt to negotiate a durable ceasefire in the six-month-long war has failed.
In November, a seven-day truce enabled the exchange of 80 hostages for 240 Palestinian prisoners, as well as 25 captives freed outside of the truce mechanism.
