RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s southernmost town, Rafah, is bursting at the seams. Nearly the last place spared an Israeli offensive so far, Rafah’s population has more than quintupled with Palestinians streaming in to escape fighting. They pack by the dozens into apartments. Sidewalks and once-empty lots are clogged with tents full of families. Panic … Read more
Israeli authorities said Friday that they were expanding their military operation to oust Hamas from Gaza to one of the last remaining refuges in all of the strip: Rafah, a city on the border with Egypt. “We complete the mission and will continue to Rafah,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on social media on Friday, … Read more
The Israeli-Hamas war has already driven around 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes, leveling the northern part of the territory and heightening fears about a similar fate for the south as Israel’s air and ground offensive widened Friday. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have streamed into the town of Rafah in … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave JERUSALEM — The expansion of Israel’s ground war across the Gaza Strip is sending new waves of displaced people into the overcrowded region around Rafah near the Egyptian border, where locals are already underfed and desperate as bombardments continue. Efforts to deliver medical supplies and fuel to … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave JERUSALEM — Fighting intensified in southern Gaza Wednesday, further dashing hopes that a section of the enclave where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled in search of refuge would be spared the scale of combat that leveled much of northern Gaza. Israel Defense Forces said it … Read more
RAFAH, Egypt — The Israeli government said Friday it would summon the Belgian and Spanish ambassadors following remarks by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his Belgian counterpart Alexander de Croo on the war between Israel and Hamas. The announcement came after the two leaders criticized Israel for the suffering of Palestinian civilians under Israeli … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave The exit gate from Gaza into Egypt slammed shut again Saturday, leaving hundreds, if not thousands, of foreigners still waiting to leave the embattled enclave as Hamas demanded that more injured Palestinians be allowed to depart first. A border official with the Hamas-controlled Gaza government said that … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave JERUSALEM — A small group of injured Palestinians was permitted to leave Gaza early Wednesday and receive medical care in Egypt, as Palestinian officials and medical workers said that Israel carried out another deadly strike on the Jabalya refugee camp, the third in less than 24 hours. … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave NUSEIRAT REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza — The Gaza Strip runs on fuel. It powers the enclave’s hospitals, water pumps and taxis. It feeds the generators residents depend on for electricity and helps fire up the ovens at neighborhood bakeries. But now Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, is … Read more
Comment on this storyCommentAdd to your saved storiesSave CAIRO — It’s been a week since the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt was effectively shut, following Israeli airstrikes on the main passage for possible relief convoys and an exit route for people desperate to leave the besieged Palestinian territory. As the humanitarian situation inside Gaza … Read more