Rafah offensive

Rafah offensive
Part of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war

Israeli Merkava tank and Namer APC at the Rafah crossing
Date6 May 2024 – present
(6 months, 2 weeks and 2 days)
Location
Rafah Governorate, Gaza Strip
Result Ongoing
Belligerents
 Israel  Hamas
Allies:
Commanders and leaders
Israel Yaron Finkelman[3]
Israel Itzik Cohen[4]
Israel Tomer Bar[5]
Israel Liron Betito[6]
Israel Benny Aharon[7]
Israel Omer Cohen[8]
Israel Yair Zuckerman[9]		 Hamas Yahya Sinwar †
Hamas Mohammad Shabana[10]
Hamas Yasser Natat[11]
Hamas Mahmoud Hamdan †[12]
Israeli claim:
Units involved
List of units:
List of units:
Strength
Israel 3,000–5,000+[47]

Per Israel:
8,000+ militants[48]

Casualties and losses
Per Israel:
37 soldiers,[b] 1 Defense Ministry contractor killed[35]
90 soldiers,[c] 1 Military Intelligence Directorate interrogator[42] and 2 Defense Ministry employees injured[35]
1 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter damaged[37]		 Per Israel (disputed, see Combatant casualties):
Hamas 2,308+ fighters killed[73]
209+ Palestinians killed,[d][improper synthesis?] 286+ injured[e]
1 UN staff member killed,[86] 1 WHO staff member injured[74]
2 Egyptian border guards killed[87]
6 Israeli hostages killed,[88] 3 civilians injured[89][90]
1,000,000+ Palestinians displaced (est.)[91]

On 6 May 2024, Israel began a military offensive in and around the city of Rafah as part of its invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war.

In early May, as ceasefire negotiations stalled, Israel prepared for an operation and ordered the evacuation of eastern Rafah.[92][93] On 6 May, Hamas accepted a ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar,[94][95] but Israel's war cabinet unanimously rejected it as "far from Israel's necessary demands", and indicated it would continue its operation.[96] Israel initially planned to launch a two division sweep across the city, but U.S. President Joe Biden considered a major attack into Rafah a "red line" that could not be crossed. This forced Israel to reduce the operation to capturing the border to seal off arms smuggling into Gaza, and rely on targeted raids into Rafah.[97]

After the rejection, Israel conducted airstrikes on Rafah, entered the edges of the city, and seized the Rafah crossing, closing it.[94][98][99] The IDF entered populated areas of the city on 14 May.[100] Israel stated that the operation would not stop unless Hamas was eliminated or hostages were released.[99] On 24 May, the International Court of Justice ordered an immediate halt to the offensive,[101] a position rejected by Israel. The humanitarian impact of Israeli operations has been high. Over 1 million Palestinians were evacuated to zones alleged to be unsafe and lacking in supplies.[102][103][91] Almost 210 Palestinians were killed and 280 injured by Israeli strikes.[f][improper synthesis?] Hospitals were in poor condition due to Israeli attacks and lack of supplies.[104][105] In addition, events relating to the offensive resulted in the temporary closures of the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.[106]

By late-August 2024, satellite imagery showed that almost 44 percent of all buildings in Rafah had been damaged or destroyed since the start of Israel's offensive on the city.[107] On September 1, 2024, the IDF recovered the bodies of six civilian hostages kidnapped during the Nova festival massacre from a tunnel in Rafah. Autopsies revealed that they had been killed from close range just a short while before their rescue.[108][88] On 17 October, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by IDF forces in Rafah.[109]

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