Anxious Wait Continues For 1.5M Palestinians Trapped In Rafah

In Rafah, where the Israeli army has launched a ground offensive, 1.5 million Palestinians feel trapped.

Rafah is located on the border with Egypt, south of the Gaza Strip, which Israel has blockaded since 2007.

The region had a population of about 270,000 before the Israeli army launched attacks on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.

Rafah, known as the least populated city in Gaza, stands out as a region with little construction.

Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israel's ground attacks first in northern Gaza and then in the central part and Khan Younis took refuge in this region.

Rafah was the only area in the strip that was not occupied by Israeli troops on the ground, even though it was frequently the target of Israeli airstrikes.

Therefore, the vast majority of displaced Palestinians were forced to migrate there.

The population of Rafah, with a surface area of about 64 square kilometers (over 24.7 square miles), has reached 1.5 million due to the displacement of Palestinians.

Rafah's population has increased almost five-fold since the Israeli attacks that began over seven months ago.

The vast majority of Palestinians displaced are holding on to life in makeshift tents.

Palestinians living in these camps, where there is no infrastructure, are deprived of basic needs such as clean drinking water and sewage.

Due to lack of space, 15 to 20 people are crammed in some of these tents.

One of the most densely populated cities of the world, Rafah houses more than 23,000 people per square kilometer.

Land attack comes step by step

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long been talking about launching a ground assault on Rafah, despite warnings from all around the world.

Far-right ministers in his coalition have also been pressuring Netanyahu to launch the ground offensive.

On April 30, the prime minister, desperate to keep his seat and under pressure from far-right ministers in his Cabinet, announced that he would launch a ground assault on Rafah with or without a prisoner swap with Hamas.

On Monday, the Israeli army demanded the evacuation of some neighborhoods east of Rafah, where displaced Palestinians had taken refuge.

Following the Israeli army's warning, 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Rafah were once again forcibly displaced and took to the roads.

On May 6, Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, informed Qatar and Egypt that he had approved their proposals for a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

Despite his announcement, the Israeli army launched a ground offensive on Rafah on Tuesday, seizing the Gaza side of the border crossing with Egypt.

Fears of widening ground offensive

While the ground offensive east of Rafah continues, the Israeli army frequently launches airstrikes in the area.

Although it is claimed that the Israeli ground offensive will be "limited", Palestinians are worried that these attacks will be expanded and other areas of Rafah will be targeted.

This is because when Israel had previously launched attacks on northern Gaza, it had asked Palestinians living in this area to migrate to the southern and central parts of Gaza, claiming that they were "safe" there.

However, Israel then launched ground attacks on central Gaza and Khan Younis, the largest city in the south.

1.5 million Palestinians have nowhere to go

If Israel expands its ground offensive on Rafah, 1.5 million Palestinians will have no place to go.

All of the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, except Rafah, has been devastated by air and ground attacks.

The Tel Aviv administration has asked Palestinians east of Rafah to flee to the al-Mawasi area along the Mediterranean coast, Khan Yunis, which was devastated by the ground offensive, and some areas in central Gaza.

The al-Mawasi area consists of 12 square kilometers of agricultural land and has no infrastructure.

The infrastructure in Khan Younis and the central areas of Rafah, where the Israeli army wants Palestinians east of Rafah to flee, has been largely destroyed by Israeli attacks.

For this reason, there is no Palestinian settlement in Rafah that has not been devastated by Israeli ground attacks.

*Writing by Merve Berker -