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Until recently, Rafah, a small city in the southern Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, was one of the last places of refuge during Israel’s war in the enclave. It quintupled in population as displaced people from the northern parts of the Strip sought safety in the roughly 25-square-mile area.

On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces said it has taken “operational control” of the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/07/rafah-israel-gaza-egypt-crossing/?itid=lk_inline_manual_1" target=_blank>Gazan side of the Rafah crossing</a> with Egypt. A day earlier, it ordered <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/06/rafah-israel-displaced/" target=_blank>tens of thousands of civilians </a>to evacuate parts of Rafah<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/06/israel-rafah-gaza-ceasefire-hamas/" target=_blank> “immediately,” </a>saying it would act with “extreme force” in those areas. The move comes in preparation for a ground offensive that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long vowed to launch.

Atef Safadi

An Israel Defense Forces official<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/07/israel-hamas-war-rafah-news-gaza-palestine/" target=_blank> said Tuesday morning</a> that Israel has established “operational control” of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing after an overnight operation that he said resulted in the killing of 20 Gazan combatants, as well as the discovery of Hamas infrastructure that included three operational tunnels.

Wael Abu Omar, a Gaza border official, said travel and the flow of aid into the Strip via Rafah have “stopped completely” as a result of the Israeli operation.

Egypt “vehemently” denounced Israel’s overnight seizure of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing at Egypt’s border, calling the move a “dangerous escalation.”

The operation came after about 100,000 civilians in Rafah were ordered to evacuate to a humanitarian zone in the territory’s west on Monday — although aid groups have warned that the area is “uninhabitable” and has little infrastructure to sustain the increasing population of refugees. They have argued that Rafah is central to current humanitarian operations.

Palestinians, living in tents and struggling to survive on limited aid, say they have nowhere safe to go.

The IDF said Monday that it struck more than 50 targets in Rafah, <a href="https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/hamas-israel-war-24/briefings-by-idf-spokesperson-rear-admiral-daniel-hagari/may-24-press-briefings/press-briefing-by-idf-spokesperson-rear-admiral-daniel-hagari-may-6/" target="_blank">describing</a> the attacks as “preparation for ground operations in the area.”

U.N. Secretary General António Guterres <a href="https://twitter.com/UN/status/1787630255651365316" target=_blank>said </a>Monday that a ground invasion in Rafah “would be intolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences and its destabilizing impact in the region.”

Netanyahu remains defiant in face of U.S. and international opposition along with condemnation from human rights groups.

Israeli officials say a Rafah operation is needed to complete its goal of eradicating Hamas, after the group’s devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Israeli military officials say that Hamas has six remaining battalions in Gaza, four of which are located in Rafah, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/07/rafah-israel-gaza-egypt-crossing/" target=_blank>The Post reported</a>. They also say the group operates tunnels under the border with Egypt, which Egyptian officials have denied.

In March, <a href="https://www.gov.il/en/departments/news/pm-netanyahu-meets-with-bipartisan-us-congressional-delegation-27-mar-2024" target=_blank>Netanyahu told</a> a visiting U.S. congressional delegation that Rafah was “the last bastion” for Hamas, adding that Israel’s goal “is to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas in Gaza.”

But Israel’s plans have raised tensions with its biggest ally, the United States, which remains opposed to a major ground operation in the densely populated city.

U.S. officials have repeatedly said that a major offensive in Rafah would be “a disaster” and that any operation must be preceded by a plan to protect civilians in harm’s way.

In a call between President Biden and Netanyahu on Monday, “the President reiterated his clear position on Rafah,” the White House said in a statement.

The conflict has drastically reshaped the demographics of the Strip.

The United Nations <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/resources/reports/unrwa-situation-report-105-situation-gaza-strip-and-west-bank-including-east-Jerusalem" target="_blank">said</a> last month that 1.7 million people have been displaced by the conflict and that the majority of people are in Rafah, which had a population of around 275,000 before the war.

Before Oct. 7, the most populated portion of the strip was Gaza City in the north.

On Oct. 13, six days after the Hamas-led assault on Israel that began the war, Israel ordered the evacuation of more than 1 million people living in the areas above the Wadi Gaza wetlands. Many took refuge in Gaza’s second-largest city, Khan Younis, in the south.

In December, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/gaza-palestine-displacement-rafah-maps-photos/?itid=lk_inline_manual_31" target=_blank>Israeli authorities ordered Palestinians to move to Rafah</a>, as Israel conducted military operations in Khan Younis.

By February, more than half of Gaza’s total population was thought to be in Rafah, where many were “living in makeshift structures, tents or out in the open,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said at the time. He added that the city had become a <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146157" target=_blank>“pressure cooker of despair.”</a>

Karen DeYoung, Missy Ryan, William Booth, Hazem Balousha, Annabelle Timsit, Heba Farouk Mahfouz and Rachel Pannett contributed to this report.

Germany’s Golden Blogger, foreign reporting (German election messaging app project)

Brunel University in England, BA in English and creative writing

Walthamstow School for Girls, England

Jennifer Hassan is a London-based breaking-news reporter for the Foreign desk at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 2016, Jennifer honed her breaking-news skills as the U.K. social media editor at MailOnline.

Jennifer Hassan

University of Manchester, BA in economics with a focus on international relations

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, MA

Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University.

Adam Taylor

SAJA Daniel Pearl Award 2022 (India under Surveillance)

SAJA Award for Business Reporting 2022 (Facebook under Fire)

Member of the team to win the George Polk Award for Technology Reporting 2021 (The Pegasus Project)

Honorable mention, SABEW Award 2021 (Facebook Papers)

New York Society for Professional Journalists Award, 2016

Radio Digital Television Network Foundation Fellow, 2016

Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation Scholar, 2015

Honorable mention, World Media Summit Global Awards, 2014

Toto Funds the Arts Award, 2013

Delhi University, BA in English

Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, MA in Journalism

Niha Masih is a reporter at The Washington Post's Seoul hub, where she covers breaking news in the United States and across the world. Previously, she was The Post's correspondent in India, where she covered the rise of majoritarian nationalism, conflict in Kashmir, the covid crisis and digital surveillance of citizens.

Niha Masih

Columbia University, The Lede Program, certificate in data journalism

Universidade Federal do Paraná, BA in journalism 

Júlia Ledur is a graphics reporter covering foreign news at The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 2021, she worked as a graphics editor at the COVID Tracking Project at the Atlantic. Previously, she was on the graphics team at Reuters, covering Latin American politics, the environment and social issues with data and visuals. 

Júlia Ledur

washpost

What’s happening in Rafah, as Israeli forces take control of crossing

the-washington-post

Israeli forces launch a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah

Reuters

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