Unimaginable devastation seen inside Khan Younis, the southern Gaza city once a safe haven for the displaced

 

The remains of an extinct life are scattered around a huge crater. Random pieces of clothing and a red makeup bag lie in the mud. Nearby, an English language textbook, pieces of broken furniture and a pillow embroidered with flowers are piled together in a large pile.

The crater is located right in the middle of a residential neighborhood in central Khan Yunis, the besieged city of southern Gaza, the current epicenter of the war between Israel and Hamas.

The city is the hometown of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, and according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it is a major Hamas stronghold. This is also the area where the Israeli military urged large numbers of civilians to flee in the early days of the war.

Looking around, it is clear that the IDF is attacking Khan Yunis with full force.

According to the IDF, the crater is a leftover crater like other buildings in the area. The army said it was flattened because it was located on top of the entrance to a huge underground tunnel complex.

The IDF says the compound has been used to hide out by Sinwar and other Hamas officials since the war began and that some of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas from Israel on October 7 were held there.