Local health officials said on Sunday that the son, daughter-in-law and two small grandchildren of a senior Hamas leader were among the victims.
They added that dozens of wounded were rushed to the Gaza City’s central hospital of al-Shifa.
Residents said the heavy shelling began in Shejaiya around midnight as Israeli tanks reached the edge of the neighborhood. They said it is too dangerous for ambulances and medical teams to approach targeted areas.
“There are dead and wounded in the streets, and no one can help them,” local resident Ahmed Rabia said.
The heavy shelling has caused hundreds of panicked residents to flee to downtown Gaza City.
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Some have tried to find refuge with relatives, while others have headed to UN schools that have been serving as temporary shelters since the start of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip less than two weeks ago.
The Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said its fighters exchanged fire with Israeli forces in Shejaiya and a nearby neighborhood, Press TV reported.
Almost 400 people have been killed by the Israeli regime in its onslaught against Gaza and over 2,900 have been wounded.
On Saturday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said children make up one third of the civilian casualties inflicted by Tel Aviv’s aggression against the Gaza Strip.