The Israeli army said Wednesday that it has completed its mission in Shujaiya, a neighborhood in the east of Gaza that has been the scene of violent fighting for two weeks.
The military statement said the operations destroyed “eight tunnels” and “eliminated dozens of terrorists, destroyed combat compounds and booby-trapped buildings.”
The offensive in Shujaiya, which involved elite Israeli units, expanded Monday into the center of Gaza City.
Mahmoud Bassal, a civil defense spokesman in Gaza, said there was extensive damage to “infrastructure and residential area” in Shujaiya, which had become a “ghost town”.
Israel’s army Wednesday dropped thousands of leaflets over war-torn Gaza City urging all residents to flee a heavy offensive through the main city of the besieged Palestinian territory.
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Israeli troops launched a ground offensive at the beginning of May on Rafah, on the border with Egypt, which was then presented by Israel as the last stronghold of Hamas, but since then, clashes have increased between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in the north and center of the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, the war in Gaza entered its 10th month.
