What is Khan Yunis like, the city that welcomed refugees from northern Gaza and is now being bombed by Israel

The south of Gaza strip is now the stage for a new phase of the land operation of Israel. This Tuesday, the Israeli army confirmed that it is carrying out operations in the city of Khan Younis, the second largest in the Palestinian enclave, which before the declaration of war on October 7th had 460,000 inhabitants.

“We are now in the heart JabaliyaIn the heart of Shejaiya (both in north of Gaza) and now also in the heart of Jan Yunis,” said Major General Yaron Finkelman, head of the Israeli army’s Southern Command. He described Tuesday as the “most intense day since the start of the ground operation” in Linkon October 27th.

WATCH: How the entry of Israeli tanks into southern Gaza leaves Palestinians with almost no place to go

Bombings in the south intensified on December 1, after the end of a seven-day truce in which Hamas It is Israel They exchanged hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Palestinians mourn the deaths of their loved ones following the Israeli bombing in the south of the Gaza Strip, on December 5, 2023, in front of a hospital in Khan Younis. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP). (MAHMUD HAMS/)

Israeli military tanks near the border with the Gaza Strip on December 5, 2023. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA/AFP). (MENAHEM KAHANA/)

In Jan Yunis hundreds of thousands of civilians who left northern Link from the first days of the war, when Israel He asked them to go south. They settled in makeshift shelters, schools and tents. They were overcrowded.

but on Sunday Israel called on Palestinians to abandon several sectors of Jan Yunis and let them go to Rafafurther south and close to the border with Egypt.

The location of Khan Yunis. (AFP).

According to the UN, in areas of Jan Yunis which must be evicted by order of Israel Around 117,000 people lived there before the conflict. To this we must add the thousands of internally displaced people living in United Nations shelters.

The AFP agency reported that the Palestinians are fleeing Jan Yunis in the direction Rafa on foot, by motorbike or with luggage on the roof of the car.

Palestinians fleeing Khan Younis arrive in Rafah, further south, near the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, on December 5, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed ABED/AFP). (MOHAMMED ABED/)

Bombs “fall every 10 minutes”said the UNICEF spokesperson. Tiago Velho.

He added that it is “impossible” to implement safe zones like the ones he delimited Israel. He stated that “after there were around 200 attacks yesterday, “The only way to have truly safe spaces in Gaza is a ceasefire.”

Smoke from Israeli bombings rises over buildings in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP). (MAHMUD HAMS/)

“An even more hellish scenario is about to become reality,” warned the humanitarian coordinator of UN for the Palestinian Territories, Canadian Lynn Hastings.

“At least 60,000 additional people were forced to move into already overcrowded shelters,” the agency’s director said Monday. United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA)Philippe Lazzarini.

One of the attacks on Tuesday morning left 24 dead at a school in Jan Yunis which was housing displaced people, the Hamas Health Ministry said.

To the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) I believe that leaders Hamasincluding its leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwarand the head of his armed wing, Mohammed Deifthey hide Jan Yunis.

Residents of the Qatar-funded Hamad Town residential complex in Khan Younis are seen fleeing their homes after an Israeli attack on December 2, 2023. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP). (MAHMUD HAMS/)

Located just two kilometers from the sea, in the south of Gaza strip, Jan Yunis It was where 35,000 refugees initially settled in 1949, most of them coming from Beersheva in the Negev, according to the UNRWA. Over the years the number of refugees reached 68,324 people. But since the start of the war, thousands more have arrived.

The rural area is divided into 13 zones, some of which are below sea level and suffer from flooding in winter, says UNRWA.

The majority of refuges They are made of brick and zinc roof. There is no sewage system in the camp. Water is supplied through wells or from the Municipal Council. The westernmost area, known as “Block 1,” is near the Jewish settlement of Choro Oatif.

Before closing the Gaza stripIn September 2000, a large proportion of refugees were employed in Israelfarmers or fishermen.

To reach the sea or go to farms in the Mawasi area, workers must pass through the Chorro Qatif Israeli border crossing, says UNRWA.

Other refugees own small shops and workshops. There is a market every Wednesday.

From September 2000 until before the current 7 October war, UNRWA counted 752 houses that were destroyed by the army. Israelwhere a total of 1,115 families or 5,990 people lived.

Children injured in Israeli airstrikes against southern Gaza lie on the floor of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, December 5, 2023. (EFE/EPA/HAITHAM IMAD).

O UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that in the south of Link Health facilities are surrounded by Israeli forces. What is more, The World Health Organization (WHO) was ordered to withdraw its medical supplies from two warehouses in that area.

In his daily report on the conflict, the UN He said that in last 24 hours shelling and fighting by Israeli forces intensified, causing at least 349 dead and 750 injuredaccording to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health.

As for humanitarian aid, this was reduced by almost half compared to what could be received during the truce, in which they agreed to Link around 170 trucks daily. On Monday, only 100 managed to do so. Fuel consumption was reduced from 110 thousand liters per day to 69 thousandnoted the UN.

The EFE agency reported this Tuesday that, for the second consecutive day, the only place of Link where humanitarian aid could be distributed was Rafa. Southern cities that until last week were relatively free from the Israeli offensive, such as Jan Yunisthey are now difficult to access due to the extent of fighting and attacks in these areas.

Now hospitals Jan Yuniswho were receiving patients from northern Gaza, are completely overwhelmed by the injuries caused by the new bombings.

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, visited the injured at the European Hospital in Gaza on Monday. Jan Yuniswhere denounced the “atrocities” that many children suffered and the “indescribable” situation of civilian victims.

“The things I saw there are beyond what anyone could describe. What impressed me most was seeing children with atrocious injuries and who, at the same time, lost their parents”, he highlighted in a video message at the end of the visit.

He said many of the people he met at the hospital had already had to flee various places in recent weeks.

“I saw people who lost a hand or a foot because they couldn’t be treated in the first hospitals that arrived.”, because the northern half of Linkcontrolled by Israel“completely lost the ability to perform surgeries.”

Source: Elcomercio