Rafah is a Palestinian city at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, on the Egyptian border. Before 2023 its population was roughly 280,000; by early 2024, more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians had sheltered there after successive Israeli evacuation orders pushed civilians southward.

In May 2024, Israel launched a ground offensive into Rafah despite an ICJ provisional order to halt the operation, demolishing large sections of the city and destroying the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting Gaza's last controlled humanitarian corridor. The offensive became the most internationally condemned phase of the Gaza war. In March 2026, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz explicitly named Rafah as the template for Lebanese border demolitions, ordering clearance of villages following the "Beit Hanoun and Rafah models in Gaza" .

Human Rights Watch identified three potential war crimes in Katz's orders: forced displacement, wanton destruction, and deliberate targeting of civilians . Rafah's invocation is legally significant: it names an operation the ICJ ordered stopped, yet carried out regardless, as the explicit model for a new theatre of conflict.

Common Questions

What is Rafah?

Rafah is the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, located on the Egyptian border. Before the 2023 war its population was around 280,000; by early 2024 more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians had taken shelter there. Israel launched a ground offensive into the city in May 2024, demolishing large sections and destroying the border crossing with Egypt.Source: Lowdown

Why did Israel invade Rafah in 2024?

Israel said Hamas's remaining military battalions were based in Rafah and that eliminating them required a ground operation. The offensive proceeded despite an ICJ order to halt it and US objections, resulting in mass displacement and widespread destruction of the city.Source: Lowdown

What is the Rafah model Israel is applying to Lebanon?

In March 2026, Israeli Defence Minister Katz ordered demolition of Lebanese border villages following the "Beit Hanoun and Rafah models in Gaza", meaning large-scale clearance of civilian structures to create a border buffer zone. Human Rights Watch identified this as a potential war crime.Source: Human Rights Watch

Did the ICJ order Israel to stop the Rafah offensive?

Yes. The ICJ issued provisional measures in May 2024 ordering Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah. Israel continued the operation. The court's order was widely cited by states calling for sanctions against Israel.Source: ICJ

Is Rafah different from Beit Hanoun?

Yes. Beit Hanoun is in northeastern Gaza and was used to create a border buffer strip; Rafah is in southern Gaza and was the site of full urban clearance. When Katz cited both as models for Lebanon in 2026, analysts read it as a two-phase doctrine: buffer zone first, deep urban operations second.Source: Lowdown

How the World Sees Them

Egypt

Egypt shares the Rafah border crossing and had brokered ceasefire talks, viewing the crossing's destruction as a direct threat to its mediating role. The crossing's closure severed the last controlled humanitarian route and drew sharp Egyptian diplomatic protests.

Israel

Israel presented the Rafah offensive as militarily necessary to destroy Hamas infrastructure in Gaza's southernmost stronghold. By March 2026, its defence minister was citing Rafah explicitly as the model for demolitions in southern Lebanon.

United States

The Biden administration expressed opposition to a full Rafah offensive without a credible humanitarian plan, briefly pausing some arms shipments. No binding action followed, and the operation proceeded to completion.

United Nations

The UN General Assembly and multiple UN agencies called for an immediate halt to the Rafah offensive, citing mass civilian displacement and the closure of the humanitarian corridor. The ICJ issued provisional measures ordering Israel to stop; Israel proceeded regardless.

Palestinian Authority

The Palestinian Authority condemned the Rafah offensive as collective punishment that displaced over a million civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure. The city's use as a demolition template for Lebanon deepened PA warnings of a normalised doctrine.