Khan Yunis

Khan Yunis is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip. In 2017, about 205,000 people lived there.

Khan Yunis
Municipality type A (City)
Arabic transcription(s)
• Arabic	خان يونس
Khan Yunis Location of Khan Yunis within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°20′40″N 34°18′11″E
Palestine grid	83/83
State	State of Palestine
Governorate	Khan Yunis
Founded	1387
Government
• Type	City
• Head of Municipality	Muhammad Jawad Abd al-Khaliq al-Farra
Area
• Total	54,560 dunams (54.56 km2 or 21.07 sq mi)
Population  (2017)
• Total	205,125
• Density	3,800/km2 (9,700/sq mi)
Name meaning	"Caravansary [of] Jonah"

Ancient period

Herodotus describes a city named Ienysos (Ancient Greek: Ιηνυσος) located between Lake Serbonis and Kadytis (modern Gaza city). He talks about how the Persian military marched through the location on its way to Egypt. He also describes how the coastal area between Kadytis and Ienysos was inhabited by local Arab tribes. Some sources, due to phonological resemblance of the names and due to the general matching of the geographic locations, associate this site with modern Khan Yunis.

Other sources have suggested a further inland location of "Khirbet Ma'in Abu Sitta" (Palestinian village depopulated in 1949, near modern kibbutz of Nir Oz) or the Egyptian town of Arish as possible locations of Ienysos, but there is no clear evidence to support this identification.

Ancient discoveries in Khan Yunis feature a lintel with a Greek inscription, discovered repurposed in the tomb of Sheikh Hamada. The inscription translates to: 'Hilarion - giving thanks to St. Georgius.' Originally housed in the Musée de Notre Dame de France in Jerusalem, the lintel is currently lost.