Khan Yunis Camp ( ar, مخيم خان يونس), also spelled Khan Younis Camp, is a

Palestinian refugee camp Camps are set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to accommodate Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, who fled or were expelled during the 1948 Palestinian ...

in the

Khan Yunis Governorate The Khan Yunis Governorate ( ar, محافظة خان يونس ') is one of 16 Governorates of Palestine, located in the southern Gaza Strip.Khan Yunis Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...

and two kilometers east of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coast in the southern

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

. While

UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 P ...

states that there were approximately 72,000

Palestinian refugee Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war ( 1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War ( 1967 Palestinian exo ...

s living in the camp in 2010,Khan Younis Refugee Camp Profile
UNRWA. 2010. the

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS; ar, الجهاز المركزي للإحصاء الفلسطيني) is the official statistical institution of the State of Palestine. Its main task is to provide credible statistical figures a ...

recorded a population of 37,705 in the 2007 census. Khan Yunis Camp was established after the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, accommodating roughly 35,000 Palestinian refugees. On 3 November 1956, the camp and city of Khan Yunis were occupied by the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. In the ensuing operation, about 275 people were killed, including 140 refugees from the camp. Residents state that most of the casualties occurred after hostilities had ended, with the army searching houses for suspected armed men. However, Israeli authorities stated the casualties were a result of resistance by the camp's residents.Special Report of the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Covering the period 1 November 1956 to mid-December 1956
. UNISPAL. 1956-12-15. According to UNRWA, many of the camp's residents have lost their homes as a result of operations by the Israeli military. UNRWA began reconstruction efforts in the early 2000s, but work has largely been halted due to the blockade imposed by

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

on the Gaza Strip following the Hamas takeover of the territory. UNRWA say that at least 10,000 homes need to be constructed.

Notable residents

Mohammed Assaf Mohammad Jaber Abdul Rahman Assaf ( ar, محمد جبر عبدالرحمن عساف; born 1 September 1989)

References

External links

Welcome To Khan Yunis R.C.
{{Palestinian refugee camps Palestinian refugee camps in the Gaza Strip Khan Yunis Governorate Buildings and structures completed in 1948 1948 in Israel