At least 60 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli bombardment of a neighbourhood in Gaza, Radio New Zealand reports.
Israel shelled Shejaiya in the eastern suburbs of the city of Gaza and battled militants on Sunday in the bloodiest fighting in a near two-week offensive.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accuses Israel of carrying out a massacre and declared three days of mourning.
Israel's army says it was targeting militants from Gaza's dominant Hamas group whom it alleged had fired rockets from the Gaza neighbourhood and built tunnels and command centres there. The army says it had warned locals two days earlier to leave.
The Israeli military says 13 Israeli soldiers had been killed in its highest toll in a single day of battle in years.
A humanitarian ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas in the Shejaiya district to allow ambulances to reach the dead and wounded lasted only an hour.
Heartbreaking stuff from the best newspaper reporter in #Gaza @petersbeaumont. http://t.co/OK5ursefz9
— Lindsey Hilsum (@lindseyhilsum) July 20, 2014
