Rafah

Rafah (in Arab رفح, in Hebrew רפיח) is a Ville Palestinian located in the south of the Gaza Strip, at the Egyptian border . The city was also known under the name of Robihwa in the ancient Egypt, Rafihu in Assyrie, Raphia by the Greek and the Romains.

It is the most important city of the south of the Gaza Strip with approximately 96.000 inhabitants in 2004, of which 44.000 live in the two refugee camps who name “Canada camp” in north, and “camp of Rafah” in the south.

History

Antiquity

The history of Rafah goes back to several millenia. The first time that its name is quoted locates during the reign of the Pharaon Séthi in 1303 av. J. - C., and the first countryside in Palestine goes up with Shoshenq I in 925 av. J. - C..

In 720 av. J. - C., it was on the site that the king Assyrie N Sargon II demolished the Egyptians (Bataille of Raffia), and the June 22nd 217 av. J. - C. took place the first great battle of Palestine, which saw the king of Egypt Ptolémée IV Philopator overcoming the last large king Séleucide Antiochos III at the time of the Bataille of Raffia: approximately a hundred and thousand soldiers confronted themselves, and of the hundreds of elephant S were used.

A source Araméen also does not make of Rafah the biblical place of Chatzerim, although one does not know other indices to confirm it.

The Middle Ages

For the Byzantine period , Rafah was a Diocèse, and an important commercial city before the Arab period . She saw then her decline then her abandonment until the 12th century. With the Mamelukes, it became again a postal station, and at the 16th century the Othoman S recorded a village of sixteen taxpayers there.

Modern times

Contemporary time

In 1917, the British army took Rafah and used it as base camp to attack Gaza. The presence of this base made leave the inhabitants and in 1922, the population was not any more but of 600 people to go back to 2.500 inhabitants in 1948.

After the Israeli-Arab War of 1948, the city passed under Egyptian control and accommodated two Arab refugee camps coming from the territory of Israel coldly created.

In 1967, after the War the six day old, the city passed under Israeli control. The population reached 55.000 then, whose only 11.000 lived the city itself.

Since September 2000, the city is one of the high places of the the Second Intifada. It is indeed connected to Egypt by tunnels of smuggling which are used to forward Arme S and Explosif S to the Gaza Strip. This explains the frequent incursions of Tsahal whose effectiveness and means used remain disputed by the international community. In particular, the last military intervention in May 2004 was the subject of critical sharp because of important destruction of houses.

Following the Israeli withdrawal of the Gaza Strip, completed on September 12th, 2005, the point of passage of Rafah is managed by the Palestinian Autorité under video monitoring of the European Union to put a term at the traffic of weapons.

Since December 2006, of many fixings opposed militiamans of the Fatah and the Hamas until the victory of this last in June 2007. The Egyptian authorities closed the fontière by fear of the islamist contagion.

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