The United Nations issued a stark warning Thursday that "nowhere is safe" in Gaza amid stepped up Israeli air raids in preparation for a widely expected ground offensive.

"People are left with nothing but impossible choices. Nowhere is safe in Gaza," Lynne Hastings, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, said in a statement.

The statement comes a day after U.N. Secretary-General also condemned Israel's relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip and spoke of "clear violations of international humanitarian law" and "collective punishment."

He also condemned the Oct. 7 surprise incursion by Hamas, but said it had not taken place "in a vacuum."

"The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence, their economy stifled, their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing," Guterres added.

Tensions escalated across the region amid relentless Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7 surprise incursion by Palestinian resistance group Hamas into Israeli territory.

More than 7,100 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 6,500 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis.