The United Nations reported on Friday that over 180,00 Palestinians were forced to flee during four days of intense fighting around the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, amid an Israeli military operation to recover the bodies of captives from the area.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that recent “intense hostilities” in the Khan Younis area, following more than nine months since the war between Israel and Hamas began, have resulted in “new waves of internal displacement across Gaza.”
It added that “around 182,000 people” were displaced from central and eastern Khan Younis between Monday and Thursday, while “hundreds of others remain trapped in eastern Khan Younis.”
The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for parts of the southern city on Monday, announcing that its forces “will operate forcefully” there, including in areas previously declared safe.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army announced the recovery of the bodies of five people during an operation in Khan Younis, including a woman and two soldiers, all of whom were killed during a Hamas attack on Israel and subsequently transported to Gaza.
Since the recent clashes in Khan Younis this week, the Israeli army stated on Friday that its forces had “eliminated nearly 100” individuals in the city.
Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi mentioned that the bodies of the captives were retrieved from tunnels and hidden walls underground.
Halevi added in a statement issued by the Israeli army that their forces “were close to the bodies of those who were killed in the past, but we did not know how to reach them” until this week.
Witnesses and rescue workers reported intense battles continuing on Friday around eastern Khan Younis, where civil defense reported that shelling resulted in the death of at least two people.
According to UN figures, the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once due to the fighting.
—by /radwa sherif ✏️✏️📚