Heavy battles and bombardment continue to hit Gaza City’s Shujaiya district for a fourth day, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged his forces were engaged in a “difficult fight”, AFP reports.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the devastated neighbourhood, where the Israeli army said it has carried out raids and fought Palestinian gunmen both “above and below ground” in tunnels. Months of on-and-off talks towards a Gaza truce and hostage release deal have meanwhile made little progress.

The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA estimated that “60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced” from Shujaiya since new fighting broke out there on Thursday and the army issued evacuation orders.

For those who remain, “our lives have become hell”, said 50-year-old Shujaiya resident Siham al-Shawa.

She told AFP that people were trapped as strikes could happen “anywhere” and “it is difficult to get out of the neighbourhood under fire”. “We do not know where to go to protect ourselves.”