Israel's Destruction of Gaza: Almost Nothing Is Left of Khan Yunis, Satellite Photos Show
Nir HassonJul 23, 2025
Abasan al-Kabira, four kilometers from the Israeli border. Razed entirely over the past two months.Credit: Planet Labs PBC
Satellite photographs taken in recent days show that Israel's military has almost entirely destroyed Khan Yunis, the second-largest city in the Gaza Strip, and its environs, an area encompassing 90 square kilometers and thousands of homes.
The brunt of the destruction has occurred in the nearby towns of Bani Suheila and Abasan al-Kabira, where most of the buildings have been completely razed. Another town, Khuza'a, was mostly destroyed at the start of the Gaza war and has now been completely razed. It appears that most of the destruction was done by bulldozers and the like.
Bani Suheila crossing en route to Khan Yunis, in October 2024, January 2025 and July 2025.Credit: Planet Labs PBC
In recent months, the military has greatly accelerated the pace of destruction in southern Gaza, using private contractors that earn a profit of thousands of shekels per building razed.
Since the cease-fire ended in March and the launch of Operation Chariots of Gideon in May, the residents of eastern Khan Yunis and the surrounding areas have witnessed destruction on a scale unseen in earlier fighting.
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On May 19, an IDF spokesman announced in Arabic that troops had begun a broad ground operation in eastern Khan Yunis, as part of an "effort to regain control of the area where Hamas operates." The army subsequently broke through a new corridor called Magen Oz, which cut off Khan Yunis and, according to the IDF spokesman, played "a central role in the application of pressure on Hamas and defeating the Khan Yunis Brigade."
As part of the operations, most of the city has been subject to an evacuation order. In May, the IDF called on its residents to leave, which most did, fleeing to the Muwasi zone further west. Since then, many have returned in an attempt to find relatives, property or personal belongings and have been able to attest to the intensity of the bombings and the harsh reality on the ground.
"There was destruction in the past, but not like now – it's total," a resident of Abasan al-Kabira told Haaretz. "East Khan Yunis, Khuza'a, Abasan, Bani Suheila – everything is destroyed. Whatever wasn't bombed was destroyed with an excavator." An eyewitness in the Bani Suheila area added: "If not from the air, then with bulldozers. Every day, it's explosions, bombings, and destruction. You hear it everywhere."
Northern Khan Yunis, in October 2023, October 2024 and July 2025.Credit: Planet Labs PBC
Adi Ben-Nun, an expert in geographic data at the Hebrew University, estimates that in central Khan Yunis alone some 2,200 buildings have been destroyed since May, about 7.6 percent of the total in the area. He calculates that in that area, 67 percent of all structures had been destroyed or significantly damaged before May and that the total has now reached 74 percent. That compares with 89 percent in Rafah until May and 43 percent in Deir al-Balah.
"This isn't just fighting, it's wholesale destruction. In some areas, even the Israeli army itself says that they had been 'erased.' Nothing was left there. No one imagined such cruelty. Everything is simply gone, destroyed," a person who had been forced to evacuate the area told Haaretz.
Southern Khan Yunis in the direction of Morag and Rafah, in October 2023 and July 2025.Credit: Planet Labs PBC
In Khan Yunis, the 36th Division, the Kfir Brigade and the Paratroopers operate. Two hospitals that served the city – Nassar, the second-largest in Gaza, and Al-Amal – were allowed to continue operating, but they had great difficulty offering services due to the evacuation and demolition orders. Examination of satellite imagery shows that the area where the hospitals are located was much less damaged than other areas, but the entire city center and its east were almost completely wiped out.
In addition to the physical destruction, the humanitarian situation is no less difficult. Gazans who survived or fled the area say that entire neighborhoods have been emptied of their residents.
Khuza'a, Southern Gaza, in March 2025 and June 2025.Credit: Planet Labs PBC
"Bani Suheila is empty. Abasan looks like a ghost town," said a former Khan Yunis resident. "Only when there's humanitarian aid, people return for a few hours to try and find something, maybe a sack of flour, maybe a carton with canned goods. It's anarchy, everything's chaotic, no one has succeeded in taking control of the situation, not even Hamas and its various arms. Everything's gone."
Across the entire Gaza Strip, an estimated 70 percent of all buildings have been completely destroyed or damaged to the point where they are no longer habitable. This is in addition to the vast majority of public buildings, roads and infrastructure. The United Nations estimates that all the rubble in Gaza amounts to about 50 million tons, or 137 kilograms per square meter. Removing it will take at least 21 years, it predicts.
Abasan al-Kabira, four kilometers from the Israeli border, in May 2024 and July 2025.Credit: Planet Labs PBC