Egypt–Gaza border in the context of "El Arish"

The Rafah offensive was an Israeli military offensive in and around the city of Rafah, beginning on 6 May 2024 as part of Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip during the Gaza war. The operation focused on the Rafah Governorate along the Egypt–Gaza border, with Israeli officials saying the goals were to defeat remaining Hamas forces in the area and to secure the border corridor and the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

The operation began as ceasefire negotiations brokered by Egypt and Qatar failed. Israeli forces carried out airstrikes, entered the outskirts of Rafah, and seized the Rafah crossing, later moving into populated neighbourhoods. Fighting and security concerns also led to temporary closures of the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The Gaza–Israel barrier (sometimes called the Iron Wall) is a border barrier located on the Israeli side of the Gaza–Israel border. Before the Gaza war, the Erez Crossing, in the north of the Gaza Strip, was the only crossing point for people and goods coming from Israel into the Gaza Strip. A second crossing point, the Kerem Shalom border crossing, is used exclusively for goods coming from Egypt as Israel did not allow goods to go directly from Egypt into Gaza through the Egypt–Gaza border, except for the Salah Al Din Gate, which opened in 2018.

A fence along the border was first constructed by Israel in 1971 as a security barrier, and has been rebuilt and upgraded since. It was constructed by Israel to control the movement of people as well as goods between the Gaza Strip and Israel, which it could not achieve by normal border crossings.