Unimaginable destruction in Khan Yunis, a southern Gaza city that was once a safe haven for the displaced.

From Khan Younis (CNN) — Scattered around a giant crater are the remains of life that no longer exists. Random pieces of clothing and a red makeup bag lie in the mud. Nearby, an English textbook, pieces of broken furniture and a flower-embroidered pillow lie in a large pile.

The crater is located in the middle of a residential area in the center of Khan Younis, a besieged city in southern Gaza that is the current focus of the war between Israel and Hamas.

The location is the hometown of Yahya Sinwar, the group’s Gaza leader, and represents a major Hamas stronghold, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It is also the area where the Israeli military urged large numbers of civilians to flee in the early days of the war, when northern Gaza was the center of Israel’s operations.

Looking around, it is clear that the IDF entered Khan Yunis in full force.

According to the IDF, the crater is the remains of a building similar to other buildings in the area. The military said it was demolished as it was above the entrance to a large complex of underground tunnels.

Buildings and roads were destroyed after the Israel Defense Forces withdrew from the Khan Yunis area on February 2, 2024. (Abdulkader Sabah/Anadolu/Getty Images)

The IDF says the compound has been used as a hideout by Sinwar and other Hamas officials since the war began, and that some of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas in Israel on October 7 were held there. For how long is not clear.

CNN was one of a small group of reporters escorted by the Israeli military to view the tunnel. As a condition of entering Gaza under IDF escort, the media had to send unedited photographs and video footage to the Israeli military for review before publication. The IDF has not reviewed this written report.

Being with the IDF meant that journalists could only see what they were allowed to see.

However, the devastation witnessed by CNN in Gaza was beyond imagination.

Driving through the border fence in a military vehicle into the heart of Khan Yunis offered a limited vantage point, but not a single building that was not affected by the war was visible.

Many buildings have been completely destroyed and the debris has been bulldozed away. Those standing on the left suffer irreparable harm. Some look like the ruins of medieval castles: single walls with holes where windows used to be.

As you drive, the magnitude of the destruction becomes apparent. In some areas, roads are surrounded by piles of debris so high that the vehicle is completely stopped and goes below “street level”.

A satellite image shows a tent in Khan Yunis on January 19. (Credit: PlanetLabs)

high price

At the beginning of the war, the Israeli military designated Khan Younis as a safe zone and asked the residents of northern Gaza to take refuge there. But as the IDF advanced south, the city became its next focus. The IDF says Khan Younis is a Hamas stronghold, adding that a network of tunnels under the city’s civilian buildings is likely where Hamas planned the October 7 attack.

Hamas has denied hiding in hospitals and other civilian structures, and CNN could not independently verify either claim.

Local journalists told CNN that up to 100,000 displaced people were in United Nations-run shelters and other facilities in the area before the IDF issued an evacuation order last month.

Many had nowhere else to go and sought refuge in medical centers and UN facilities in Khan Younis, including the Nasser Medical Complex, Al Amal Hospital and the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. The UN said thousands of people were still there, according to Hamas-led Palestinian health officials, and that facilities had also been attacked.

A building of Khan Younis located next to the entrance to the tunnel complex. (Ivana Kotasova/CNN)

The IDF has repeatedly stated that it wants to minimize harm to civilians and has been pressured by the United States and others to do more in that regard.

Brigadier General Dan Goldfuss is the commander of the IDF 98th Division, the unit leading the offensive in Ekm Khan Yunis. He was with a small group of reporters, including CNN, on a tour of two Hamas tunnel complexes in the area.

Standing inside the massive crater at Khan Yunis on Sunday, Goldfuss acknowledged the devastation was significant. But he blamed Hamas.

Goldfuss said the tunnel network was used by Hamas leaders to plan attacks in Gaza that killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250. He said some of the hostages were still being held inside the tunnel.

“I’ve been asked a lot of questions about the price that Gaza pays, the Khan Younis, the houses… yes, there’s definitely a price paid,” Goldfuss said.

“But look around you. We’re in a normal neighborhood and there’s a tunnel entrance everywhere you look. Kindergartens have one, schools have one, mosques have one, supermarkets have one, everywhere you go,” he said.

CNN cannot verify Goldfuss’ claims because Israel does not allow journalists to freely travel to Gaza. However, the tunnel complex visited by CNN on Sunday was under a residential area.

Even this limited view of Gaza makes clear that four months of Israeli military operations have completely transformed the enclave.

Seen from above, Gaza was green and gray: a vast expanse of countryside alternating with densely populated cities. Now, satellite images show mostly brown land. Bombing and Sabotage.

Israeli soldiers patrol the area around the entrance to a tunnel network discovered under Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Sunday, February 4. (Ivana Kottasova/CNN)