Rafah
Rafah | |
---|---|
City | |
Arabic transcription(s) | |
• City | |
• Head of Municipality | Anwar al-Shaer (2019)[2] |
Area | |
• Total | 64,000 dunams (64 km2 or 25 sq mi) |
Population (2017 Census)[4] | |
• Total | 171,899 |
• Density | 2,700/km2 (7,000/sq mi) |
Rafah (
When Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1982, Rafah was split into a Gazan part and an
Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing, the sole crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Gaza's only airport, Yasar Arafat International Airport, was located just south of the city. The airport operated from 1998 to 2001, until it was bombed and bulldozed by the Israeli military (IDF).[13][14]
Etymology
| ||||||
rpwḥw[15] in hieroglyphs | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Era: New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC) | ||||||
Over the ages it has been known as Rpwḥw by the
Development
The Ottoman–British agreement of 1 October 1906 established a boundary between Ottoman ruled Palestine and British ruled Egypt, from Taba to Rafah. After World War I, Palestine was also under British control, but the Egypt-Palestine Boundary was maintained to control movement of the local Bedouin. From the mid-1930s the British enhanced the border control and Rafah evolved as a small boundary town which functioned as a trade and services centre for the semi-settled Beduin population.[7] During World War II, it became an important British base.
Following the Armistice Agreement of 24 February 1949, Rafah was located in Egypt-occupied Gaza and consequently, a
In 1979,
Demographics
In 1922, Rafah's population was 599,[20] which increased to 1,423 in 1931,[21] increasing again to 1,635 in 1938,[22] and further increased to 2,220 in 1945.[23] In 1982, the total population was approximately 10,800.[24]
In the 1997
In the 2006 PCBS estimate, Rafah city had a population of 71,003,
Archaeology
History
Bronze Age Raphia
Rafah has a history stretching back thousands of years. It was first recorded in an inscription of Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I, from 1303 BCE as Rph, and as the first stop on Pharaoh Shoshenq I's campaign to the Levant in 925 BCE. In 720 BCE it was the site of the Assyrian king Sargon II's victory over the Egyptians.[30]
Hellenistic and Roman periods
In 217 BCE the
The town was conquered by
Byzantine period
During the
Early Muslim to Mamluk periods
Rafah was one of the towns captured by the
A
In 1226, Arab geographer
Ottoman and Egyptian period
Rafah appeared in the 1596
In 1799, the Revolutionary Army of France commanded by
Rafah was the boundary between the provinces of Egypt and Syria. In 1832, the area came under Egyptian occupation of Muhammad Ali, which lasted until 1840.
The French explorer Victor Guérin, who visited in May 1863, noted two pillars of granite which the locals called Bab el Medinet, meaning "The Gate of the town".[38] In 1881, Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria wrote: "Fragments of gray granite pillars, still standing, are here to be met with about the road, the fields, and the sand, and we saw one lying on the ground half buried... The pillars are the remains of an ancient temple, Raphia, and are of special importance in the eyes of the Arabs, who call them Rafah, as they mark the boundary between Egypt and Syria."[39]
WWI and British Mandate
In 1917, the
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Rafah had a population of 599 inhabitants, all Muslim,[20] increasing in the 1931 census to 1,423, still all Muslims, in 228 houses.[40]
In the 1945 statistics Rafah had a population of 2,220, all Muslims,[41] with 40,579 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[23] Of this, 275 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 24,173 used for cereals,[42] while 16,131 dunams were un-cultivable land.[43]
1948–1967
After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Egypt governed the area (see Palestinian Protectorate) and refugee camps were established. In the 1956 war involving Israel, Britain, France, and Egypt, 111 people, including 103 refugees, were killed by the Israeli army in the Palestinian refugee camp of Rafah, during the Rafah massacre. The United Nations was unable to determine the circumstances surrounding the deaths.[44][45]
During the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israel Defense Forces captured Rafah with the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip. The population was about 55,000, of whom only 11,000 lived in Rafah itself.
On Friday, 9 June 1967, the Israeli army bulldozed & blew up 144 houses in Rafah refugee camp killing 23 inhabitants.[46]
After 1967
In the summer of 1971, the IDF, under General
During the early months of
In May 2004, the Israeli Government led by, then Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon approved another
In September 2005,
2023–2024 War in Gaza
During the Israeli Defence Forces' (IDF) war on Gaza, civilians were told to flee to Rafah and
On 11 February, The Wall Street Journal reported that Egypt had warned Hamas to release hostages within two weeks or face an IDF invasion of Rafah.[60][61] A joint operation in Rafah by the IDF, Shin Bet, and Israel Police recovered two hostages (Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har) kidnapped by Hamas from Nir Yitzhak.[62] During this operation, heavy bombardment by the IDF occurred in the area that includes many refugee camps killing 112 people with several bodies still under the rubble.[63]
Rafah Border Crossing
Rafah is the site of the
Climate
Climate data for Rafiah, Gaza Strip | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.4 (63.3) |
18.1 (64.6) |
20.5 (68.9) |
23 (73) |
25.8 (78.4) |
28.3 (82.9) |
29.6 (85.3) |
30.5 (86.9) |
29.1 (84.4) |
27.6 (81.7) |
23.8 (74.8) |
19.4 (66.9) |
24.4 (75.9) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.9 (55.2) |
13.6 (56.5) |
15.6 (60.1) |
18.1 (64.6) |
20.9 (69.6) |
23.6 (74.5) |
25.2 (77.4) |
26 (79) |
24.7 (76.5) |
22.6 (72.7) |
18.7 (65.7) |
14.8 (58.6) |
19.7 (67.5) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 8.4 (47.1) |
9.1 (48.4) |
10.8 (51.4) |
13.3 (55.9) |
16.1 (61.0) |
19 (66) |
20.9 (69.6) |
21.6 (70.9) |
20.3 (68.5) |
17.6 (63.7) |
13.7 (56.7) |
10.2 (50.4) |
15.1 (59.1) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 48 (1.9) |
36 (1.4) |
27 (1.1) |
6 (0.2) |
4 (0.2) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
8 (0.3) |
39 (1.5) |
53 (2.1) |
221 (8.7) |
Source: Climate-Data.org (altitude: 45m)[65] |
Climate data for Rafah, North Sinai | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.2 (63.0) |
18 (64) |
20.3 (68.5) |
22.9 (73.2) |
25.8 (78.4) |
28.2 (82.8) |
29.6 (85.3) |
30.5 (86.9) |
29 (84) |
27.4 (81.3) |
23.7 (74.7) |
19.3 (66.7) |
24.3 (75.7) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.7 (54.9) |
13.5 (56.3) |
15.4 (59.7) |
18 (64) |
20.8 (69.4) |
23.5 (74.3) |
25.2 (77.4) |
25.9 (78.6) |
24.5 (76.1) |
22.4 (72.3) |
18.6 (65.5) |
14.7 (58.5) |
19.6 (67.3) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) |
9 (48) |
10.6 (51.1) |
13.2 (55.8) |
15.9 (60.6) |
18.8 (65.8) |
20.8 (69.4) |
21.4 (70.5) |
20 (68) |
17.4 (63.3) |
13.5 (56.3) |
10.1 (50.2) |
14.9 (58.8) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 49 (1.9) |
37 (1.5) |
28 (1.1) |
6 (0.2) |
4 (0.2) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
8 (0.3) |
39 (1.5) |
54 (2.1) |
225 (8.8) |
Source: Climate-Data.org (altitude: 78m)[66] |
See also
- Rafah, Egypt
- Gaza–Egypt border
- European Union Border Assistance Mission Rafah
- Erez Crossing
- Israel–Gaza barrier
- Philadelphi Corridor
- Rafah Elementary Co-Ed "B" School
- Rafah Governorate
- Asma al-Ghul
References
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- ^ Polybius 18.51.10 and 28.20.9; Livy 33.40.3 and 35.13.4; Appian, Syriaca 3.13 and 5.18
- ^ a b c d e Raphia – (Rafah) Studium Biblicum Franciscanum – Jerusalem.
- ^ Joseph Bingham, Origines Ecclesiasticae; Or the Antiquities of the Christian Church and Other Works: In Nine Volumes, Volume 3(Straker, 1843) p 61.
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- ^ Dwyer, 2007, p. 415
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- ^ Mills, 1932, p. 6
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 32
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 88
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 138
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- Jerusalem Post of 17 May 1971, Mr. Teddy Kollek, Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem, stated that 4,000 Arabs had been evacuated from Jerusalem. Likewise, in the case of Gaza, according to reports appearing in several newspapers and in letters addressed by Governments, several thousands of persons were displaced from the three major refugee camps in Gaza. Official Israeli sources have stated that these transfers of population were necessitated by new security measures, such as the construction of wider roads inside the camps in order to facilitate patrolling and the maintenance of law and order in the camps. Most of the persons whose refugee accommodation was destroyed to permit of the construction of these roads were forced to leave for the West Bank and El Arish, while a few were said to have sought refuge with other families inside Gaza. The Special Committee considers that the transfers were unwarranted and that even if the construction of new roads was considered indispensable for the maintenance of law and order, the arbitrary transfer of population was unnecessary, unjustified and in breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
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Bibliography
- Archduke of Austria, Ludwig Salvator (1881). The Caravan Route between Egypt and Syria. London: Chatto & Windus.
- Barron, J. B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
- ISBN 0-860549-05-4.
- Dwyer, Philip (2007). Napoleon -The Path To Power 1769-1799. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0747574903.
- Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
- Guérin, V. (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 1: Judee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
- Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- Polybius 18.51.10 and 28.20.9; Livy 33.40.3 and 35.13.4; Appian, Syriaca 3.13 and 5.18.
- Strange, le, G. (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
External links
- United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
- Welcome To The City of Rafah
- Rafah Today, pictures by Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer
- Rafah Smuggling Tunnels
- Rafah Pundits: Rafah Focused Blog
- Raising Yousuf – Blog by Laila el-Hadad who is a reporter for Aljazeera living in Gaza
- Reports from Rafah
- Interview with Hip Hop Artist Michael Franti – Reporting from Rafah.
- Part A Part B Satellite photos comparing 2001 to 2004.
- Razing Rafah: Mass Home Demolitions in the Gaza Strip – Human Rights Watch
- The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project – The organization started by people in the communities of Rafah, Gaza, and Olympia, WA
- The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project – A sistering project connecting the communities of Rafah, Gaza, and Madison, WI