The Israeli army says it has destroyed 50 sites belonging to Hamas in Gaza’s Shujayea neighbourhood, Al Jazeera reports.

The offensive has forced at last 85,000 residents to flee, but many have remained behind, Sam Rose, UNRWA’s director of planning, told Al Jazeera.

“The expectation when it (the military operation) started is that it would have been over quite quickly but it’s carrying on — we are now I believe in day six,” Rose said.

“As it’s always the case in these operations – there are people who stay behind, or are unable to move because they are elderly or sick or unwilling to move because they had enough and prefer to die where they are rather than facing another round of uncertainty,” he added.