https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/06/24/world/israel-gaza-war-hamas
Israel began its operation in Rafah in early May, forcing more than a million civilians to flee the city. Israeli forces struck a traffic roundabout near the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/18/israel-rafah-offensive-gaza-hamas/
Israel dropped leaflets and warned civilians to leave the Rafah area in the days before launching the attack, leading about 1 million people to flee once again, according to the United Nations.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-kills-senior-gaza-health-official-tanks-push-deeper-into-rafah-2024-06-24/
Two Israeli air strikes targeting aid supplies killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, medics said, as Israeli tanks pushed deeper into Rafah in the south and fought their way back into

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/25/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-rafah.html
For Israel, taking Rafah and the border would effectively complete the reconquest of Gaza and could mean a move to a different phase of lower-intensity raids. Rafah has in and under it the last

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/28/middleeast/israeli-tanks-advance-central-rafah-gaza-intl/index.html
Israel began a limited ground operation in Rafah on May 7, crossing the Philadelphi Corridor - a 14-kilometer (about 8.7-mile) buffer zone on the Egypt-Gaza border - and seizing the

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/05/28/world/israel-gaza-war-hamas-rafah
The evacuation from Rafah, once the primary destination for people leaving other parts of the enclave, is the latest in a string of displacements since Israel launched a war to dismantle Hamas

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-05-07-2024-113bf4ee5dad87dc5c003d76ed2785bf
Israel's 401st Brigade took "operational control" of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing early Tuesday, the military said. Military footage showed Israeli flags flying from tanks in the area. It also said troops and airstrikes targeted suspected Hamas positions in Rafah.

https://apnews.com/article/rafah-hamas-gaza-israel-war-541e91c0f09196944a4dabeded94596f
WHY RAFAH IS SO CRITICAL. Since Israel declared war in response to Hamas' deadly cross-border attack on Oct. 7, Netanyahu has said a central goal is to destroy the Islamic group's military capabilities.. Israel says Rafah is Hamas' last major stronghold in the Gaza Strip, after operations elsewhere dismantled 18 out of the militant group's 24 battalions, according to the military.

https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-05-28-24/index.html
Israel digs in: Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would expand its ground operation in Rafah. After meeting Sullivan, he said: "I emphasized to him Israel's duty to

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/28/g-s1-1361/rafah-gaza-israel
Jehad Alshrafi/AP. Israeli forces are pushing deeper into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite an order last week from the top U.N. court to halt its operation against Hamas there. One witness

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-rafah-strike-ground-assault-dont-cross-bidens-red-line-rcna154428
White House says Israel's Rafah strike and ground assault don't cross Biden's 'red line'. Israel's actions in Rafah so far did not represent a "major ground operation" that would violate

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/13/politics/us-israel-rafah-assessment/index.html
The Biden administration has assessed that Israel has amassed enough troops on the edge of the city of Rafah in Gaza to move forward with a full-scale incursion in the coming days, but senior US

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-war-hamas-muwasi-humanitarian-2de77ea9095d2c680f57f77ad395917c
Israel's offensive in Rafah has sent nearly a million Palestinians fleeing the southern Gaza city and scattering across a wide area. Most have already been displaced multiple times during Israel's nearly 8-month-old war in Gaza, which is aimed at destroying Hamas but has devastated the territory and caused what the U.N says is a near-famine.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-forces-step-up-attacks-jabalia-camp-rafah-gaza-2024-05-13/
rafah assault splits u.s. and israel UNRWA, the main U.N. aid agency in Gaza, estimated that about 360,000 people had fled the southern city since the Israeli military gave its first evacuation

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-68271878
Israel says Rafah is the last stronghold for Hamas fighters, and key to securing the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza The two hostages rescued overnight on Sunday are in "good medical

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvvvkxpxwno
Many Palestinians have escaped fighting in Rafah by fleeing to nearby Khan Younis Israel's prime minister has said the "intense phase" of fighting Hamas in Gaza is nearly over, allowing forces

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-moves-to-more-limited-rafah-assault-plan-to-which-us-will-not-object-report/
Israel has decided to shelve plans for a major offensive in the Gaza Strip's southern city of Rafah, and will act in a more limited manner, after discussions with the US on the matter

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/11/us-israel-rafah-invasion-palestinians-evacuation/
Israel's recent seizure of the Rafah border crossing angered many Biden aides, who have for months been pressing Israel to allow more aid into Gaza. The World Food Program has said northern Gaza

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafah_offensive
Rafah offensive. 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 . Before the offensive, about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians from elsewhere in the Gaza Strip had sought shelter in Rafah.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/06/middleeast/israel-gaza-eastern-rafah-evacuation-notice-hnk-intl/index.html
Palestinians in Rafah pack belongings into a truck after Israel's evacuation order, May 6, 2024. Gazans began leaving eastern Rafah on Monday after Israel's military issued a call for residents

https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-longer-justifiable-israel-faces-international-condemnation-for-strike-in-rafah/
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on what the IDF said was a Hamas compound, adjacent to a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah, Gaza Strip, May 27, 2024.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/28/what-happened-when-israel-attacked-rafah
Israel has attacked twice since Sunday, killing tens of people in horrific circumstances. A young girl being treated at Kuwaiti Hospital following an Israeli attack on Rafah, May 27, 2024

https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-rafah-2f603675195f80c73c593020398ed72a
Israel has said an offensive in Rafah is vital to uprooting Hamas fighters in its military's campaign to destroy the group after its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. The military has said it found dozens of tunnels in eastern Rafah, including at least 20 along the Philadelphi Corridor.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/29/israel-shrugs-off-unsc-bid-to-stop-the-killing-to-continue-rafah-assault
Israel has continued its assault on Rafah, ignoring a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to "stop the killing" in the city in southern Gaza. New air attacks were reported across the

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/31/middleeast/idf-central-rafah-intl/index.html
Israel's incursion into Rafah earlier in May marked a new phase in its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the enclave

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-gaza-live-updates-14-killed-in-idf-strikes-on-2-gaza-schools-officials-say/ar-BB1oLwI1
A woman and a girl react following an Israeli strike that hit a tent camp, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Al-Mawasi area in western Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/25/israel-gaza-famine-palestinians-aid/
Mapping Israel's expanding battle for Rafah, a test of U.S. red lines. May 31, 2024. Gaza conditions worse than ever, USAID chief says, as Rafah invasion rages. May 30, 2024.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-hamas-rafah-palestinians-evacuees-refugees-2f4e37cb3e40560f4980d8a70baaa81e
Israel says Rafah is Hamas' last major stronghold in Gaza, after operations elsewhere dismantled 18 out of the militant group's 24 battalions, according to the military. But even in northern Gaza, the first target of the offensive, Hamas has regrouped in some areas and continued to launch attacks.