Israel orders new Gaza evacuations, UN chief wants peace during Games

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

The UN said more than 180,000 Palestinians had already fled fierce fighting in Khan Younis since the military began an operation in the area last Monday.

The evacuation orders and "intensified hostilities" have "significantly destabilized 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 region, including an area previously declared a safe humanitarian zone, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Monday an Israeli operation in Khan Younis killed 70 people and wounded more than 200.

The military said at the time it would act to stop rocket fire coming towards Israel from the area. On Wednesday the military said forces carried out a rescue operation in Khan Younis and recovered the bodies of five Israelis killed during the October 7 attack by Hamas militants and taken back to Gaza.

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

Medics at the city's Nasser Hospital reported at least 16 bodies brought to the facility from different parts of the southern governorate.

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.

On Saturday, there were also reported fatalities west of Gaza's Deir al-Balah. At least 12 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a school housing displaced people, according to Gaza's Civil Defense service.

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It followed a rallying cry from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday urging countries around the world to stop armed conflict as part of the Olympic truce.

Guterres met International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach at the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony and said the Games was a chance for peace.

"I want to express the total support of the United Nations to the IOC," Guterres said. "We live in a divided world where conflicts are proliferating in a dramatic way."

During the Olympics in ancient Greece all conflicts ceased for the duration of the Games to allow for the competitions to go ahead.

Guterres added: "In a moment in which the Olympic Games will start it is time to remind the world of the importance of the Olympic truce and to make the world understand that we must silence the guns."

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