More than 150,000 people have fled the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis since Monday, according to two UN agencies.
Khan Younis, located in the southern Gaza Strip, is the target of a new Israeli military offensive which the army says is aimed at countering “attempts by Hamas to re-assemble its forces there”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued an evacuation order for the eastern parts of Khan Younis on Monday. It also expanded the size of the designated humanitarian zone al-Mawasiwhich it claimed was used by Hamas fighters to carry out “terrorist activities and rocket fire.”
At least 80 Palestinians have been killed in the area since the start of the Israeli operation, according to figures from the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.
An official from UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, told the BBC’s Today programme that an estimated 150,000 people have fled Khan Younis since Monday, when the latest evacuation order was announced.
“More than 80% of the Gaza Strip has been evacuated or designated as a no-go zone by the Israeli military,” said Louise Wateridge.
On Tuesday, tanks were seen penetrating deep into the Bani Suhaila district. Operations were also taking place in the Al-Qarara area.
Some residents tried to flee to refugee camps in the eastern part of Khan Younis, while others gathered in hospitals to seek refuge.
Rabah Abdul Ghafour, 37, a resident of Bani Suhaila, took shelter at Nasser Hospital.
“Since October 7, I have been displaced 12 times,” he told the BBC. “We have had the worst night of our lives. The sound of explosions and gunfire never stopped. It was as if the war had started yesterday.”
Rawan Al-Brim, 22, from Al-Qarara, arrived at Nasser Hospital on Monday with her husband and mother-in-law.
“We slept in the outside garden without a mattress or blanket. My four-month-old daughter was born during the war. My breast milk has dried up and I can’t find any milk to satisfy her hunger. My baby screams all night because of hunger,” she said.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported that it was monitoring population movements on the ground and recorded that 150,000 people had fled Khan Younis.
It said many people were “trapped in the evacuation area,” including “people with reduced mobility and family members supporting them.”
“We are seeing people moving into Deir al-Balah and western Khan Younis. Both of these areas are already extremely overcrowded,” Ms Wateridge told the BBC. “They have limited shelters and limited services available. They can barely accommodate the people who are already in these areas.”
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had operated “in the Khan Younis area over the past 24 hours” and “eliminated multiple terrorists” and “dismantled terrorist infrastructure.”
The Israeli offensive comes as the World Health Organization says it is “extremely concerned” about the possibility of an outbreak of the highly contagious poliovirus in Gaza after traces were found in wastewater.
Israel has launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 that killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.
According to the territory’s Ministry of Health, more than 39,000 people have died in Gaza since then. The ministry’s figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
