Is Khan Yunis safe?
Palestine · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Khan Yunis is a city in Palestine, home to about 601k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,392 of 6,168, with a safety score of 60.5 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.
Emergency Ambulance 101 · Fire 102 · Police 100
- Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 48,315 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (3,992 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Palestine, updated 2026-08-25.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country9 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- Khan Yunis581 deaths · 50 events
- Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza city471 deaths · 1 event
- Rafah404 deaths · 42 events
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Khan Yunis, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Gaza
- Areas near Gaza
- The West Bank
- Northern Israel and Occupied Golan Heights
- Tulkarm Governorate, Jenin Governorate, and Tubas Governorate except Route 90
- Areas north of Route 89 between Nahariyya and Dalton; north of a straight eastward line from Dalton to Route 91; and north of Route 91 across the Golan Heights, excluding routes 89 and 91 themselves
- Within 500m of the Area of Separation in the occupied Golan Heights (the ‘Alpha line’). Do not attempt to enter the occupied Golan Heights through Syria
- Sheba’a Farms and Ghajja
- West Bank
Named in the official UK travel advice for Palestine (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Khan Yunis.
How safe is Khan Yunis really?
No published homicide figure exists for Khan Yunis itself, so the national rate stands in: Palestine recorded 0.3 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - well below the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Palestine's income inequality is middling (Gini 36.4) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Crime statistics are not the main story here: the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 48,315 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Khan Yunis across 3,992 events in 2022-2024. That is active-conflict territory, and ordinary crime figures say nothing about it. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Khan Yunis (581 deaths), Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza city (471 deaths), Rafah (404 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Palestine at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-08-25). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 9 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Palestine
Conflict between Lebanese Hizballah and Israel · Conflict between Iran and Israel · Conflict between the Houthis (in Yemen) and Israel · Conflict in Israel and Palestine · Terrorism in Israel and Palestine · Terrorist kidnap · Political situation · Demonstrations and armed clashes · Refugee camps · Settlements · Protecting your belongings · Personal ID · Dress code · Ramadan · +11 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Palestine — country-level, not specific to Khan Yunis. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 0.3 /100knational rate, 2024
- Conflict deaths
- 48,315within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 36.4country, 2023
- Human development
- HDI 0.674country, 2023
- Income
- $5,310/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 601kurban centre · 5,621/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 5.3 /100kWHO, 2016 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 34/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 40/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- no dataTransparency International · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 6.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.47Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 22.4 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 81%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 2.2 doctors /1k1.3 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in Palestine
- Earthquake
- 4.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 1.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Palestine as a whole, not Khan Yunis specifically.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Palestine; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Khan Yunis that gives 60.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Khan Yunis compared with Gaza
| Measure | Khan Yunis | Gaza | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 60.5 | 60.5 | ±0.0 |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 0.3 /100k | 0.3 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 48,315 | 47,950 | +365 — better for Gaza |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Palestine, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Gaza →
Nearby cities
- Deir el-Balah 60.5
- Gaza 60.5
- Ashkelon, Israel 43.5
- Beersheba, Israel 43.5
- Arish, Egypt 54.6
- Ashdod, Israel 43.5
- Hebron 52.9
- Rehovot, Israel 43.5
See Khan Yunis on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →