Nearly 400,000 people lived in Khan Younis and its environs before 7 October. Much of the area is now in ruins after at least four months of bombardment by Israel's air force and artillery.
Soon after the Israeli army said its troops were pulling out, Palestinians began to emerge into the devastated landscape - the residents of Khan Younis returning to find what remained of their homes.
Such is the destruction that many of the residents returning from neighbouring Rafah, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza have been sheltering, have struggled to find their way around.
Not a single structure in Khan Younis appeared untouched by Israel's destruction. Meanwhile, civil defence authorities told The New Arab on Tuesday that around 90 bodies had been recovered from Khan Younis after Israeli forces pulled out of the city on Sunday.
