Khan Younis
CNN
—
Scattered amongst a massive crater are the remnants of a life that has vanished. Random articles of clothing and a red makeup bag lay in the mud. Nearby, an English language textbook, bits of broken furniture, and a pillow with floral embroidery are all intertwined in one large pile.
The crater sits right in the heart of a residential neighborhood in central Khan Younis, the besieged city in southern Gaza that is the current focal point of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The city is the hometown of Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), a major Hamas stronghold. It’s also an area to which the Israeli military urged large numbers of civilians to flee in the early days of the war, when northern Gaza was the focus of Israel’s operations.
The devastation observed in Gaza is simply inconceivable.
Driving from the border fence to the heart of Khan Younis in a military vehicle provided a limited view, but it was apparent that there wasn’t a single building untouched by the war.
Many buildings have been completely destroyed and the rubble bulldozed away. The ones that remain standing appear damaged beyond any chance of repair.
Early in the war, the Israeli military designated Khan Younis as a safer zone and instructed residents from northern Gaza to seek shelter there. But as the IDF pushed to the south, the city became its next focus.
Local journalists have reported that there were as many as 100,000 displaced people in United Nations-run shelters and other facilities in the area before the IDF issued evacuation orders last month.
Many had nowhere else to go and remained sheltering in medical centers and UN facilities in Khan Younis, including the Nasser Medical Complex, Al Amal Hospital, and the Palestine Red Crescent Society headquarters. The UN said thousands are still there, and those facilities have also come under attack, according to Hamas-run Palestinian health officials.
The IDF has repeatedly asserted that it seeks to minimize harm to civilians but has come under pressure from the United States and others to do more.
Even this limited glimpse of Gaza makes it clear that four months of Israeli military operations have completely transformed the enclave.
