The Israeli military has confirmed that it has begun an operation in the Shujayea neighbourhood after following intelligence that signalled the presence of “terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”, Al Jazeera reports.

“The troops began their targeted activity in the area of Shujayea during the day. Overnight, they started to conduct targeted raids in the area,” the army wrote on Telegram in a situational update. It claimed that the airforce also hit “dozens of Hamas terrorist infrastructure sites” in the area.

Separately in the northern Gaza Strip, the army said it conducted several strikes and said “dozens of terrorists who were hiding in UNRWA schools and facilities were eliminated”.

In Deir el Balah, fighter jets targeted a structure that Hamas fighters were allegedly using and said that the group were operating from a humanitarian area.

To mitigate the casualties, the army claimed it took a “number of steps” before the strike, including evacuating civilians and using precise munition.