More than 180,000 Palestinians have fled fierce fighting around the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis in four days, the UN said yesterday, after an Israeli operation to extract captives’ bodies from the area.Recent “intensified hostilities” in the Khan Yunis area, more than nine months into the Israeli war on Gaza, have fuelled “new waves of internal displacement across Gaza”, said the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA.It said “about 182,000 people” have been displaced from central and eastern Khan Yunis between Monday and Thursday, and hundreds are “stranded in eastern Khan Yunis”.The Israeli military on Monday ordered the evacuation of parts of the southern city, announcing its forces would “forcefully operate” there, including in an area previously declared a safe humanitarian zone.Witnesses and rescuers said heavy battles continued around eastern Khan Yunis yesterday. The Nasser Hospital said 26 bodies were brought to the medical site.Israel’s offensive has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.According to UN figures, the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4mn people have been displaced at least once by the fighting.Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden spoke yesterday with Jordan’s King Abdullah, discussing the push to reach a ceasefire in the devastating Gaza conflict, the two countries said.“The president updated King Abdullah on his ongoing efforts to secure a hostage release and ceasefire deal, and preparations for a surge in humanitarian assistance during a ceasefire period,” the White House said in a statement.Jordan’s royal court confirmed the call, saying that King Abdullah “stressed the need to end the war on Gaza immediately and ensure the flow of sufficient aid through all crossings, while guaranteeing its delivery to civilians across the Strip without delay or hindrance.”