Several primary care centres and medical points in Khan Younis have been shut down following evacuation orders by the Israeli army, Anadolu reports according to the enclave’s health ministry.

“Due to the increasing number of areas forcibly evacuated in southern Gaza, several primary health care centres 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 organisations to swiftly intervene to protect the remaining health institutions and provide necessary resources and supplies.