News, fighting in Gaza, deaths and more

An Israeli military bulldozer is seen in the background as displaced Palestinians flee Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, on January 30, 2024. Credit: Mahmoud Hames/AFP via Getty Images

The UN aid agency in Gaza, UNRWA, says 184,000 people have registered for humanitarian aid after being forced to leave the area in recent days, amid intense fighting in Khan Yunis.

“We’ve lost a health clinic, vital shelter, facilities that supported the people of Khan Yunis,” Tom White, UNRWA’s director of affairs, said on Twitter.

Thousands of people already displaced by intense fighting over the past eight days have been forced to flee Khan Yunis, White said in a video recorded in Gaza. “The people of UNRWA and Khan Yunis have fled to the outskirts, closer to the coast,” he said.

Satellite photos taken by Planet Labs over the past ten days show that a large group of tents set up by displaced people west of Khan Yunis has already disappeared.

In satellite images from 19 January, hundreds of tents can be seen around Aqsa Khan University west of Khan Yunis, an area where many people had fled after heavy fighting began in Khan Yunis when Israeli forces advanced into southern Gaza. Had expanded his ground campaign.

A satellite image shows tents in Khan Yunis on 19 January. (Credit: PlanetLabs)

However, photos from January 29 show that the tents are no longer there.

There are no shops in the same area photographed on January 29. (Credit: PlanetLabs)

The university is on a road leading west from Khan Yunis towards the sea and toward an area where Israel Defense Forces ordered civilians to leave.

Satellite images also show extensive excavation tracks and clearings. They also show before-and-after photos of a large UNRWA vocational school just west of Khan Yunis that was attacked on 24 January. The IDF told CNN the next day that it denied “at the moment” that air or artillery strikes by Israeli forces had hit UN facilities.

“After examining our operational systems, the IDF currently denies that this incident was the result of an air or artillery attack conducted by the IDF,” it said in a statement.

As fighting spread to nearby Nasser Hospital and other areas west of Khan Younis, displaced Palestinians moved further and further away. It is unclear whether they did so of their own free will or because they were ordered to leave the area.

Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday that fighting was continuing in and around Khan Yunis. According to the IDF’s latest operational update, the 7th Brigade “detected explosive devices, conducted a targeted raid on a weapons production facility and killed dozens of terrorists.”

“The 7th Brigade conducted a targeted raid on a facility used by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization to manufacture weapons,” he said. “Troops located and destroyed a workshop used to make weapons including long-range rockets, anti-tank missiles, mines and explosive devices.”

The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry says 150 people were killed as a result of Israeli military operations during a recent 24-hour period, an increase from the previous day. 313 people were injured.

Overall, the death toll from Israeli military operations since October 7 has risen to 26,900, while 65,949 people have been injured, the ministry said.