File:An_aerial_view_showing_destruction_in_Rafah_after_Israeli_forces_withdrawal_and_as_the_ceasefire_took_hold,_Gaza_Strip.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ172343· pop 70· linked from 641 articles

Rafah

Also known as Rafa, Rafaḥ, Rafah City, Raphia, Raphiah

Rafah ( ) is a largely destroyed and depopulated city in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestine, that served as 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 City and Khan Yunis, about 70% of Gaza's population, were displaced to Rafah, as of February 2024. By April 2025, most of the city was destroyed by means of systematic razing by the Israeli military and the remains fell under Israeli control.

OverviewAI-generated

Rafah is a city and border city located in the Rafah Governorate of Palestine. It serves as the capital of the governorate and is situated in Asia. The city has a population of 171,889 and stands at an elevation of 54 meters above sea level. Its native label is رَفَحْ, and residents are referred to as Rafahian or Rafahien. The area is part of the Rafah Governorate and includes the Rafah Border Crossing and Rafah Camp.

The city is twinned with Pesaro. Historical events associated with Rafah include the 1956 Rafah massacre and the Rafah offensive. It is described in the source Pauly–Wissowa. The time zone for Rafah is UTC+02:00 or UTC+03:00.

Synthesized by Vinony from 48 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Open Meteo, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Weather now

cached 21h ago

25°clear sky

75% 1.9 m/s OpenWeatherMap

7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality: رفح
Region: قطاع غزة
Country: الأراضي الفلسطينية
Population: 126,305
Timezone: Asia/Gaza

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

66US AQIModerate

PM2.5: 19.7 µg/m³
PM10: 26.3 µg/m³

As of 2026-08-11 03:00 · Open-Meteo

Key facts

Settlement.name: Rafah
Settlement.settlement_type: City
Settlement.translit_lang1: Arabic
Settlement.translit_lang1_type: Arabic
Settlement.image_skyline: An aerial view showing destruction in Rafah after Israeli forces withdrawal and as the ceasefire took hold, Gaza Strip.jpg
Settlement.image_caption: Aerial view of the remains of Rafah in January 2025
Settlement.pushpin_map: Palestine
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption: Location of Rafah
Settlement.pushpin_relief: 1
Settlement.image_map: Location Rafah.png
Settlement.map_caption: Location of Rafah in the Gaza Strip
Settlement.mapframe: yes
Settlement.grid_name: Palestine grid
Settlement.grid_position: 77/78
Settlement.subdivision_type: State
Settlement.subdivision_type1: Governorate
Settlement.subdivision_name1: Rafah
Settlement.subdivision_type2: Control

via Wikipedia infobox

~18 min read

Encyclopedic overview

24 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
Late Bronze Age
Iron Age
Classical Age
Hellenistic period
Roman period
Medieval Age
Byzantine period
Early Muslim to Mamluk periods
Ottoman and Egyptian period
British period
1948–1967
After 1967
Gaza war
2025 razing and destruction
Development
Demographics
Rafah Border Crossing
Climate
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

After the 1948 Palestine war, Egypt governed the area and refugee camps for displaced Palestinians who fled or were expelled from what became Israel were established. During the Suez Crisis in 1956, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) killed 111 Palestinians, including 103 refugees in the Rafah refugee camp, during the 1956 Rafah massacre. During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli forces re-occupied the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip after capturing them from Egypt. In the same year, IDF troops bulldozed and demolished 144 houses in the Rafah refugee camp, killing 23 Palestinians.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Rafah” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.