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Rafah (, ) is a city in North Sinai and Egypt's eastern border with the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
,
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. It is the capital of Rafah center in North Sinai Governorate, and is situated on the eastern
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
coast of Egypt. Rafah is the site of the
Rafah Border Crossing The Rafah Border Crossing () or Rafah Crossing Point is the sole crossing point between Egypt and Palestine's Gaza Strip. The Rafah crossing was opened by Israel after the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, 1979 peace treaty and remained under Isra ...
, the sole crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The Egyptian government announced in early 2015 that it would raze the entire city and build a new settlement for its residents, in order to expand a security buffer between Egypt and Gaza Strip. The Egyptian military began bulldozing sections of Rafah in late 2014. By 2021, the Egyptian military had demolished at least 7,460 buildings in Rafah.


History

When Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1982, Rafah was split into a Gazan part and an Egyptian part, dividing families, separated by barbed-wire barriers.''Cinderella in Rafah''
Al-Ahram, Issue No. 761, 22–28 September 2005
''The Evolution of the Egypt-Israel Boundary: From Colonial Foundations to Peaceful Borders''
pp. 3, 9, 18. Nurit Kliot, Boundary and Territory Briefing, Volume 1 Number 8
At Google books
/ref> The core of the city was destroyed by Israel''Razing Rafah — Mass Home Demolitions in the Gaza Strip''
pp. 27-28 and 52-66 (PDF text version) o
Summary:
Human Rights Watch (HRW), October 2004
''Supplementary Appeal for Rafah''
UNWRA, May 2004
PCHR
''Uprooting Palestinian Trees And Leveling Agricultural Land – The tenth Report on Israeli Land Sweeping and Demolition of Palestinian Buildings and Facilities in the Gaza Strip 1 April 2003 – 30 April 2004''
O

/ref> and Egypt''“Look for Another Homeland”''
Human Rights Watch, September 2015
to create a large Gaza–Egypt border#Buffer zone, buffer zone. During the 2011 Egyptian protests, anti-government rioters attacked and killed three police officers in the town. In October 2014, the Egyptian government announced plans to relocate the population and completely demolish the city in order to enlarge the Gaza–Egypt border#Buffer zone, buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza. Between July 2013 and August 2015, Egyptian authorities demolished at least 3,255 residential, commercial, administrative, and community buildings along the border, forcibly evicting thousands of people. In June 2015 Egypt completed the digging of a ditch at the Rafah Crossing Point, 20 meters wide by 10 meters deep. It is located two kilometers from the border with Gaza outside of Rafah City and part of the enlarged buffer zone. Expansion of the trench along with watchtowers was planned. In November 2021, Egypt and Israel signed an agreement that allows Egypt to increase its military presence in Rafah. By mid-2018, the Egyptian military had destroyed at least 6,850 buildings in the city of Rafah, and from August 2016 to August 2019, the Egyptian army destroyed and closed 3,500 hectares of farmland. Subsequently, the number of buildings destroyed by the Egyptians rose to 7,460.
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
stated that these demolitions are likely
war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
s.Egypt: Massive Sinai Demolitions Likely War Crimes
/ref>


Economy

Rafah is in a Mediterranean climate zone and agriculture thrives. Due to rain, hail and sleet; the city has plentiful sources of water for agriculture. Mediterranean fruits and crops are dominant, such as: peaches, olives, apples, citrus fruits, dates, grapes, vegetables, strawberries and peppers. Smuggling to the Gaza Strip has been a major source of income for
Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...
tribesmen, using over 1,200 smuggling tunnels to smuggle food, weapons and other goods into Gaza.Egypt bans Hamas activities in Egypt
Reuters. 4 March 2014


Climate

Like east
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
cities and Egypt's north coast but wetter, it is characterised by hot dry summers and mild rainy winters. The temperature during summer can be around during daytime, and rarely exceeds due to the influence of the sea. Winters range from mild to cool during the day and chilly during the night and temperatures dip below very often. Rainfall is average with sometimes hail, sleet and rarely snow takes place. Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot semi-arid (BSh). Rafah,
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, Abu Qir, Rosetta,
Baltim Baltim (  ) is a city in the Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, in the north coast of Egypt. History The second part of the town's name preserves "end, furthest part (of Egypt)". Baltim was the beneficiary of a tax reduction under the reign o ...
, Kafr el-Dawwar and
Mersa Matruh Mersa Matruh (), also transliterated as Marsa Matruh ( Standard Arabic ''Marsā Maṭrūḥ'', ), is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highway from the Nile ...
are the wettest places in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
.


See also

*
List of cities and towns in Egypt 0-9 * 10th of Ramadan * 15th of May (city), 15th of May * 6th of October (city), 6th of October A * Abu El Matamir * Abu Hummus * Abu Tesht * Abu Tig * Akhmim * Al Khankah * Alexandria * Arish * Ashmoun * Aswan * Awsim * Ain Sokhna B * ...
*
Rafah Rafah ( ) is a city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Rafah Governorate. It is located south-west of Gaza City. In 2017, Rafah had a population of 171,889. Due to the Gaza war, about 1.4 million people from Gaza C ...
*
Rafah Border Crossing The Rafah Border Crossing () or Rafah Crossing Point is the sole crossing point between Egypt and Palestine's Gaza Strip. The Rafah crossing was opened by Israel after the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, 1979 peace treaty and remained under Isra ...
* Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels


References

{{coord, 31, 16, 51, N, 34, 14, 29, E, source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title Populated places in North Sinai Governorate Populated coastal places in Egypt Cities in Egypt Divided cities