Gaza’s civil defence agency said around 60 bodies had been found under the rubble in Shujaiya, after some of Gaza City’s heaviest combat in months, AFP reports.

Since the conflict began in the enclave on October 7 last year, more than 38,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Hamas said Israel’s operation there had left “more than 300 residential units and more than 100 business destroyed”.

Mohammed Nairi, a Shujaiya resident, said he and others returning to the neighborhood had seen “immense destruction that defies description. All the houses were demolished.” Israel’s military said on Wednesday it had completed its mission in Shujaiya after two weeks, but bombardments and fighting continued to shake Gaza City.

Witnesses said tanks and troops had moved on to other parts of the city. An AFP correspondent reported air strikes on the Sabra neighbourhood while militants engaged in heavy clashes with Israeli forces in Tel al-Hawa.