Rafah

Palestinians at the site of Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, February 12, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

With no safety in Rafah, Palestinians are fleeing back to Gaza’s decimated center

Escalating attacks, unlivable conditions in tents, and a looming Israeli invasion are forcing many Palestinians to abandon the Strip's last refuge.

By Ruwaida Kamal Amer and Ibtisam Mahdi March 14, 2024

Palestinians wait for a hot meal prepared by volunteers in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, January 26, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

‘My children are crying from hunger. This is a war of starvation’

With insufficient aid and skyrocketing prices across Gaza, Palestinians in the overcrowded city of Rafah are struggling to feed their families.

By Ruwaida Kamal Amer January 31, 2024

Tents as far as the eye can see in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, January 9, 2024. (Mohammed Zaanoun)

‘Tents everywhere’ as Rafah struggles to hold a million Palestinians

Displaced multiple times by the war, many in Gaza's southernmost city are living in makeshift shelters without sufficient food, water, or blankets.

By Mohammed Zaanoun January 15, 2024

Latest

Palestinians prepare the body of a baby in Kamal Edwan Hospital's morgue after an attack on Beit Hanoun elementary school killed at least 17 people, Jabalyia, Gaza Strip, July 24. The school was being used as a shelter by 800 people at the time (photo: Anne Paq/Activestills)

Debunking Gaza war lies

The lies generated by the IDF spokesperson and the media on the Gaza war are still being endlessly quoted for the purposes of propaganda. By John Brown (translated from Hebrew by Sol Salbe) 1. “Hamas is forcing residents to stand on rooftops, leading to their deaths.” The claim originated with the killing of six members of the…

By +972 Magazine August 8, 2014

Homes in Beit Lahiya lie in ruins after the Israeli bombing of the Rozanah family home, Gaza Strip, August 2, 2014. The homes of five families were destroyed, leaving 60 people homeless. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Gaza dispatch: ‘Death will come and life will go on’

In the tragedy that is the Middle East, we Palestinians have played two roles – the victim or the vilified. But Gaza is changing all that. Gaza is fighting back. “You want to go where?” My colleague and I have just boarded a taxi and named our destination– Rafah. Two days after the Israeli military…

By Samer Badawi August 8, 2014

Salah Salameen and his cousin, both 24, were injured by shrapnel from the August 3 strike. They were discharged from the Kuwaiti Hospital the day of the attack because there were no beds left for them. (photo: Samer Badawi)

Refugees once again: Gazans who lost their home wonder what’s next

As the ranks of Gaza’s internally displaced continue to grow, communities are forming in the most unlikely places. The Boys Preparatory School “A” is home to hundreds of Palestinians from eastern Rafah, where fierce fighting forced them to flee to the UN-run shelter. The school sits on a quiet street just off Rafah’s Nijmeh Circle,…

By Samer Badawi August 5, 2014

Israeli tanks on the Israel-Gaza border. (photo: Activestills.org)

Israeli army scales back forces from Gaza; air strike kills 10 in UN-run school

The Israeli army announced Sunday that it had withdrawn most of its troops from Gaza, although no official announcement has been issued to end the 29-day Operation Protective Edge. According to Haaretz, Israeli forces that remain in Gaza are working on destroying one more tunnel near Rafah, while other units are operating in Beit Hanoun.…

By Edo Konrad August 3, 2014

An Israeli artillery fires a shell towards the Gaza Strip from a position near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Augost 1, 2014 after the proposed three-day truce that began at 0500 GMT collapsed amid a deadly new wave of bloodshed and the apparent capture of an Israeli soldier by Hamas (photo: Activestills)

Hamas: Missing soldier likely killed in Israeli air strike

Israel continued to bombard Gaza overnight, as the Palestinian death toll rose to more than 70 after the collapse of Friday’s UN and U.S.-brokered 72-hour ceasefire that was supposed to lead to negotiations to end the Israel-Hamas war. Rockets continued to be fired from Gaza into Israel early Saturday morning, with the Iron Dome intercepting some…

By +972 Magazine August 2, 2014

Medics at the Al-Shifa hospital mourn their colleague targeted and killed in Shejaiya neighbourhood earlier today, Gaza Strip, July 20, 104. Spokesman of the Palestinian ministry of health Ashraf al-Qidra said rescue teams evacuated more than 80 dead bodies from destroyed houses in Shejaiya including 17 children, 14 women and 4 elderly people. More than 200 injured people were taken to al-Shifa Hospital. Death toll in the Gaza Strip accedes 392 with over 2650 wounded since the beginning of the Israeli offensive. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Gaza war diary II: No one is safe, everyone is a target

Walid Abuzaid offers a look into the everyday reality of living in Gaza during the current violence. As the fighting worsens, he asks why Palestinians should settle when they haven’t got the rights they deserve. By Walid Abuzaid Thursday, July 17 It’s 10 p.m. when the power finally returns. The electricity has been down since…

By +972 Magazine July 26, 2014

American activist Rachel Corrie (photo: Rachel Corrie Foundation)

WATCH: Israeli Supreme Court hears Rachel Corrie appeal

Corrie’s father expresses hope that the top justices ‘understand what it means to protect civilians,’ and that they reverse the trend of impunity for the IDF. By Jeremy Elster The Israeli Supreme Court this week heard an appeal on behalf of the family of Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an IDF bulldozer…

By Social TV May 23, 2014

President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas at a joint press conference in Whitehall. (flickr / Cabinet Office CC)

Why Fatah-Hamas reconciliation might just work this time

Unlike previous efforts, the current Palestinian reconciliation agreement appears to have been cemented from within; and it might just offer a lifeline to Gaza. By Samer Badawi Just as word emerged early Wednesday of an imminent unity accord between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized upon the news to…

By Samer Badawi April 23, 2014

A Palestinian man and boy react to the sound of a Israeli warplane, flying at very low altitude above the ruins of the government building, which was completely destroyed that morning. Gaza city, November 17, 2012 (photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

In escalations of violence, Gazans pay the price

As Gaza teeters on the brink, a new Israeli offensive could spell catastrophe for the blockaded strip. One Gazan reminds us who foots the bill, each and every time. By Abeer Ayyoub “You don’t have to worry – it’s only thunder, not an explosion,” my sister assured me. We are trying to sleep for the…

By +972 Magazine March 14, 2014

Gazan women celebrate International Women's Day. (photo: Hosam Salem)

Palestinian and proud: Celebrating International Women’s Day in Gaza

In honor of International Women’s Day, Abeer Ayyoub pays respect to her mother, who taught her that being a woman in Gaza is as much about liberation as it is about survival. By Abeer Ayyoub Although March 8th has always marked International Woman’s Day, this year was the first time I ever felt like it…

By +972 Magazine March 10, 2014