Israeli army orders new evacuations in southern Gaza

The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for residents of southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis city on Saturday, after retrieving the bodies of five Israelis and warning of new operations.

The United Nations said more than 180,000 Palestinians have already fled fierce fighting in Khan Yunis since the military began an operation in the area last Monday.

The evacuation orders and “intensified hostilities” have “significantly destabilised aid operations”, the UN said, reporting “dire water, hygiene and sanitation conditions” in the Palestinian territory.

After Israel warned its forces would “forcefully operate” in the Khan Yunis region, including an area previously declared a safe humanitarian zone, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday that an Israeli operation in Khan Yunis killed 70 people and wounded more than 200.

The military said at the time that it would act to stop rocket fire coming towards Israel from the area, which had already seen heavy fighting early in the year.

On Wednesday the military said forces carried out a rescue operation in Khan Yunis and retrieved the bodies of five Israelis.

They had been killed during the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, and their bodies taken back to Gaza, the military said.

On Saturday, it ordered residents from more parts of Khan Yunis “to temporarily evacuate to the adjusted humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi” — the second such adjustment made to the safe zone within a week.

Witnesses and rescuers said heavy battles continued around eastern Khan Yunis on Friday, and medics at the city’s Nasser Hospital reported at least 16 bodies brought to the facility from different parts of the southern governorate.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized 251 hostages during the attack, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 39,175 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not provide details of civilian and militant deaths.