GAZA CITY, Palestine

Several primary care centers and medical points in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip have been shut down following evacuation orders by the Israeli army, Health Ministry in the Palestinian enclave said on Saturday.

"Due to the increasing number of areas forcibly evacuated in southern Gaza, several primary health care centers are now out of service,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry warned that the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, the only hospital still operational despite numerous challenges, may also shut down, posing a "certain health catastrophe."

It said that "the increasing number of displaced persons living without access to water and amidst sewage and piled-up waste, without personal hygiene supplies, makes conditions ripe for the spread of polio and other diseases."

According to the latest statistics from the media office in Gaza, over 1.7 million displaced persons have contracted infectious diseases due to displacement and overcrowding.

The ministry urged international and UN organizations to swiftly intervene to protect the remaining health institutions and provide necessary resources and supplies.

Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli army ordered the immediate evacuation from southern parts of Khan Younis, a week after it issued an evacuation order for eastern parts of Khan Younis and began a new ground invasion.

The Israeli military has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the start of the current conflict in October.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi