Rafah, at the southern end of Gaza which borders Egypt, is the only part of the Palestinian territory which Israel is yet to occupy.
Israel previously designated the city as a “safe place” for Palestinians to seek refuge amid the invasion from the IDF (Israel Defence Forces).
Israel air strikes have been targeting the city in recent days and the Israeli government has indicated that it plans to invade , and soon, in its efforts to eliminate the Palestinian militants Hamas.
After four gruelling months of war, this moment – just before the anticipated attack – has drawn even more attention to the conflict. Here’s why.
Why is this a significant moment in Israel-Hamas war?
More than a million Palestinians (approximately half of Gaza’s total population) have sought refuge in Rafah since the Israeli offensive began.
Israel started its ground operation in the north last autumn, and ordered Palestinian civilians to evacuate south for their own safety.
As the IDF moved south through the territory, more Palestinians fled. Rafah therefore became one of the last places for the population to go.
Israel has repeatedly said it is trying to protect civilians in its barrage by encouraging them to evacuate.
But now two-thirds of the entire territory is still under Israeli evacuation orders, so it’s not clear where Israel wants the Palestinians in Rafah to go to if they invade the city.
Egypt, just across Gaza’s southern border, will also not allow a wave of Palestinians to enter its country.
What’s life like in Rafah at the moment?
Although it’s a place of refuge for Palestinians, conditions are bleak right now in the city.
The UN agency in the Palestinian territory UNRWA say there are nearly 1.5 million people there – that’s six times the population prior October 7.
People are living on the streets, in cramped shelters, and disease is spreading while aid workers struggle to help ease the conditions for locals, according to Reuters.
The Norwegian Refugee Council called it a “gigantic refugee camp”, while UNICEF has said 600,000 children are displaced in Rafah.
Why does Israel want to invade Rafah?
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has dubbed Rafah the “last bastion” of the Palestinian militants Hamas.
Israel declared war on Hamas after the militants killed 1,200 people on Israeli soil – and took a further 240 people hostage – on October 7.
Over the last four months, more than 28,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities.
Netanyahu claims there are four battalions of gunmen in the area, and that Israel cannot reach its goals of wiping out the group unless it invades Rafah.
What does the Rafah invasion have to do with the Super Bowl?
Israel took out an advert during this year’s Super Bowl, on February 12, a US sporting event watched by millions.
During breaks in the game of American football, Israel ran a series of 30-second adverts.
One began with an NFL athlete playing with a child, then cut to clips of hostages being held in Gaza with their children before the October 7 attack. It included the hashtag: “Bring all dads back home.”
Another ad showed a packed stadium, accompanied by the caption: “In a roaring stadium, their silence is deafening – 136 are still being held hostage by Hamas.”
According to reports, the ad ran at the same time Israel launched missiles into Rafah, killing around 100 civilians, shortly after the IDF rescued two of the Hamas hostages from Rafah.
The hashtag #SuperBowlMassacre therefore started trending on social media.
Many critics started to suggest the two events were now historically linked.
US president Joe Biden also faced backlash online for posting a joke about conspiracies which claim the Super Bowl game was rigged.
Although the post made no reference to the war in the Middle East, his caption – “Just like we drew it up” – was slammed amid the timings of the attacks.
Why are there fears this could be a ‘bloodbath’?
Chief executive of Medical Palestinians, Melanie Ward, told BBC Newsnight that her organisation has been worried “from the beginning” about “everyone being kettled into a very small area”.
“If an assault is allowed to take place, there is no question it will be a bloodbath,” she said. “Tens of thousands more civilians will be killed, or people being displaced over the border into Egypt.”
She prefaced that Palestinians could only access Egypt if the border is opened, or breached in some way.
“People feel that they are choosing where they are going to be when they die,” Ward added.
MSF International, also known as Doctors without Borders, also said there is a “feeling of despair” despite the resilience among those in Rafah right now.
The impartial group also called on Israel to halt any planned offensive in Gaza.
Filmmaker Yousef Hammash, sheltering in Rafah right now, also told Channel 4 News on Tuesday night that the only place available to the people in Rafah was to move back to the middle part of the territory, to Khan Younis.
But, he said: “There is no space for one individual in the middle area.”
He said 60% of all housing units in Gaza have been destroyed – and the remaining 40% are in Rafah. Hammash. added: “The entire Gaza Strip, except for Rafah, is rubble.”
He noted that aid workers are already struggling to reach people in Rafah, to offer necessities such as water.
Hammash also explained that the 150 trucks of aid getting into the country right now are not enough, and that around 1,000 trucks are needed per day.
After the UN voiced concerns that not enough aid was reaching Gaza in January, the IDF said there “is no food shortage in Gaza”.
“In terms of food, the reserves in Gaza are sufficient for the near term,” the head of the coordination and liaison administration for Gaza, Colonel Moshe Tetro said, according to the Times of Israel.
He added: “However, if there are any organisations that would like to bring more food, we are happy to facilitate it — to the south and to the north.”
How has the UK responded?
The UK has discouraged any further action from Israel.
Foreign secretary Lord David Cameron said at the weekend that he was “deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah”.
Speaking in the House of Lords on Tuesday, he said: “The people who are in Rafah on many occasions, have already moved three, four or five times, it is not possible to move again.”
“That is why it is so important the Israelis stop and think before going ahead with any operations in Rafah,” he added.
While the UK government is an ally to Israel, Cameron has recently said the UK could recognise an independent Palestinian state even as negotiations with Israel are ongoing – despite Netanyahu suggesting Israel will not recognise any such state.
How has the US responded?
Before Israel launched strikes on Rafah, US president Joe Biden said Israel should not launch an offensive in the city until there’s a clear way to protect the civilians sheltering.
“A military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million people sheltering there,” he said.
This warning came days after Biden said the US’s ally was being “over the top” with its strikes on Gaza, and a few months after the president warned that Israel is “starting to lose support by the indiscriminate bombing that takes place”.