Israel Army to evacuate Gaza’s Rafah

Israel Army to evacuate Gaza’s Rafah

Subject: IR

Section: Places in news

Context: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said he has ordered the military to prepare a plan to evacuate civilians from Rafah ahead of an expected Israeli invasion of the densely populated southern Gaza city.

Rafah

• Rafah is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip.
• Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing, the sole crossing point between Egypt and the State of Palestine. The crossing is controlled by Egypt.
• Gaza’s only airport, Yasser Arafat International Airport, was located just south of the city.
• Rafah had a pre-war population of roughly 2,80,000, and as per the UN is now home to 1.4 million additional people.
• It is the only exit that does not lead to Israeli territory.
• There are only two other border crossings in and out of Gaza:
• Erezis located in the north and is used by people in Israel.
• Kerem Shalom, in the south, which is exclusively for commercial goods.
• Both Erez and Kerem Shalom controlled by Israel are currently closed.