The Israeli army targeted northern Gaza with intense shelling and closed roads preventing the delivery of aid, thePalestinian territory’s civil defence agency said, AFP reports.

“The shelling is intensifying, targeting civilians and their homes, causing significant fear and terror among the residents,” said Ahmad al-Kahlut, the agency’s director in north Gaza.

“Roads have been closed, and there has been a continuous siege for the fourth consecutive day, with no supplies entering the North Gaza Governorate,” Kahlut said.

According to the director, “a large number” of people died in northern Gaza during the fighting.

But he said counting the casualties had been complicated by the “difficulty of recovery and access to all areas”.