The Israeli army has announced that it has completed its mission in Shujaiya, a neighbourhood in the east of Gaza that has been the scene of violent fighting for two weeks, AFP reports.

The military statement said the operations destroyed “eight tunnels” and “eliminated dozens of terrorists, destroyed combat compounds and booby-trapped buildings.” The offensive, which involves elite Israeli units, has expanded into the centre of Gaza City.

Mahmoud Bassal, a civil defence spokesman in Gaza, said there was extensive damage to “infrastructure and residential area” in Shujaiya, which had become a “ghost town”.

“We are telling the world for the millionth time that the reality in the Gaza Strip is tragic and that there must be action from international and human rights institutions,” he said in a statement.

Israel’s military dropped thousands of leaflets over Gaza City urging all residents to flee a heavy offensive through the main city of the besieged Palestinian territory.

The leaflets, addressed to “everyone in Gaza City”, set out designated escape routes and warned that the urban area — where UN humanitarian agency OCHA said up to 350,000 people were staying — would “remain a dangerous combat zone”.