Rafah offensive

Rafah offensive
	Part of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war
	; Gaza Strip under Palestinian control Gaza Strip under Israeli control Furthest Israeli advance in Gaza Strip Evacuated areas inside Israel Maximum extent of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel Area of Gaza subject to Israeli evacuation orders; See here for a more detailed map.
Date	6 May 2024 – 26 May 2025; (1 year, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location	Rafah Governorate, Gaza Strip
Result	Israeli victory
Territorial; changes	Rafah comes under full Israeli operational control, with a small pocket in Al-Bayuk being controlled by the Popular Forces.
Belligerents
Israel; Israeli allies: Popular Forces (from May 2024); ;	Hamas; Allies: Palestinian Islamic Jihad ; Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ; Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine ; Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades ; Popular Resistance Committees ; Abdul al-Qadir al-Husseini Brigades ;
Commanders and leaders
Yaron Finkelman; Yaniv Asor; Itzik Cohen; Tomer Bar; Liron Betito; Beni Aharon; Omer Cohen; Yasser Abu Shabab (Popular Forces)	Yahya Sinwar †; Mohammed Deif X; Mohammed Sinwar X; Muhammad Shabana X; Yasser Natat; Mahmoud Hamdan †; Yousef Qadi ; Muhammed Zaarab
Units involved
Show units: Israel Defense Forces Israeli Ground Forces Southern Command 36th Division 188th Armored Brigade; 282nd Artillery Brigade; Golani Brigade 12th Battalion; ; ; 98th Division Oz Brigade Egoz Unit; Maglan; ; Paratroopers Brigade; ; 146th Division 4th Armored Brigade; 205th Armored Brigade 5250th Battalion; 9215th Battalion; ; ; 162nd Division Givati Brigade 846th Battalion; Reconnaissance Battalion; Shaked Battalion; Tzabar Battalion; ; 401st Brigade 9th Battalion; 46th Battalion; ; Bislamach Brigade 450th Battalion; ; Nahal Brigade 50th Battalion; Gadsar Nahal; Granite Battalion; ; ; 252nd Division Negev Brigade; ; Armored Corps; Gaza Division Desert Reconnaissance Battalion; ; 7th Armored Brigade; ; Combat Engineering Corps 601st Battalion; 710th Battalion; 7107th Battalion; Yahalom; ; Combat Intelligence Collection Corps; Home Front Command 489th Search & Rescue Battalion; ; Oketz Unit; ; Israeli Air Force 123rd Squadron; 7th Wing Unit 669; ; ; Israeli Navy Shayetet 13; ; Military Intelligence Directorate Unit 504; ; ; Ministry of Defense Shin Bet; ;	Show units: Palestinian Joint Operations Room Al-Qassam Brigades Rafah Brigade Eastern Rafah Battalion; Shaboura Battalion; Tel al-Sultan Battalion; Yibna Battalion; ; ; Al-Quds Brigades; Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades; National Resistance Brigades; Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades; Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades; Abdul al-Qadir al-Husseini Brigades; ;
Strength
3,000–5,000+ soldiers; 300+ Popular Forces militants (per Hamas)	Per Israel:; 8,000+ militants 7,000–8,000; ;
Casualties and losses
Per Israel: ; 44 soldiers, 1 Defense Ministry contractor killed; 109 soldiers, 1 Military Intelligence Directorate interrogator and 2 Defense Ministry employees injured; 1 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed; Several Popular Forces militants killed; Per Hamas:; 20+ Popular Forces militants killed	Per Israel (disputed, see Combatant casualties): ; 2,308+ fighters killed
	209+ Palestinians killed, 286+ injured; 2 UN staff members killed, 1 WHO staff member injured; 2 Egyptian border guards killed; 8 Israeli hostages killed, 3 civilians injured; 1,000,000+ Palestinians displaced (est.)

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 Gaza war.

In early May, as ceasefire negotiations stalled, Israel prepared for an operation and ordered the evacuation of eastern Rafah. On 6 May, Hamas accepted a ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar, but Israel's war cabinet unanimously rejected it as "far from Israel's necessary demands", and indicated it would continue its operation. Israel initially planned to launch a two division sweep across the city, but U.S. President Joe Biden considered a major attack into Rafah a "red line" that could not be crossed. This forced Israel to reduce the operation to capturing the border to seal off arms smuggling into Gaza, and rely on targeted raids into Rafah.

After the rejection, Israel conducted airstrikes on Rafah, entered the edges of the city, and seized the Rafah crossing, closing it. The IDF entered populated areas of the city on 14 May. Israel stated that the operation would not stop unless Hamas was eliminated or hostages were released. On 24 May, the International Court of Justice ordered an immediate halt to the offensive, a position rejected by Israel. The humanitarian impact of Israeli operations has been high. Over 1 million Palestinians were evacuated to zones alleged to be unsafe and lacking in supplies. Almost 210 Palestinians were killed and 280 injured by Israeli strikes. Hospitals were in poor condition due to Israeli attacks and lack of supplies. In addition, events relating to the offensive resulted in the temporary closures of the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

By late-August 2024, satellite imagery showed that almost 44 percent of all buildings in Rafah had been damaged or destroyed since the start of Israel's offensive on the city. On September 1, 2024, the IDF recovered the bodies of six civilian hostages kidnapped during the Nova festival massacre from a tunnel in Rafah. Autopsies revealed that they had been killed from close range just a short while before their rescue. On 17 October, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by IDF forces in Rafah. On 19 January 2025, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect, and the IDF withdrew from some parts of Rafah. On the night of 18 March 2025, Israel launched a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip, breaking the ceasefire. Israeli troops resumed ground operations in Rafah on 20 March 2025.