Israel’s military on May 7th sent tanks
over the Gaza side of the Rafa border
crossing with Egypt for weeks now Israel
has brushed aside warnings from its
allies including the United States not
to make a major move into the City and
for a moment on May 6th it felt like
there would be a pause in the fighting
when Hamas agreed to an Egyptian and
Qatar mediated ceasefire deal but Israel
said the deal didn’t meet its demands
that there were still significant gaps
so hours later Israeli tanks rolled into
Rafa and took control of this pivotal
land Crossing Rafa is a small City in
southern Gaza on the border with Egypt
it was one of the last places of Refuge
for Palestinians in this 7-month war in
The Enclave the Rafa border crossing is
the only route Palestinians can take to
enter or leave Gaza it’s also a main
point of entry for fuel and humanitarian
Aid this 25 square mile city has since
the war started quintupled in population
to nearly 1 and A5 million Palestinians