Rafah Camp

Rafah Camp (Arabic: مخيم رفح or معسكر رفح‎) is one of eight Palestinian refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. It is located in the Rafah Governorate along the Egyptian-Palestinian Authority border. It was established in 1949 and currently forms part of the city of Rafah. During the period of its establishment, it was the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, however its population has decreased due to migration to the Tall as-Sultan camp, an extension of Rafah camp, which was set up to absorb refugees repatriated from Canada Camp.

According to the UNRWA, the camp has a population of 99,000 inhabitants, This figure includes (in contrast PCBS census data) Tall as-Sultan. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 2006 mid-year estimate for Rafah Camp alone is 59,983, for Tall as-Sultan 24,418. The camp is the second largest refugee camp in Palestine. There are 31 schools (20 primary, 11 secondary) run by the UNRWA.

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Rafah

Rafah (Arabic: رفح‎) is a Palestinian city and refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees. Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan camp form separate localities.

When Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1982, Rafah was split into a Gazan part and an Egyptian part, dividing families, separated by barbed-wire barriers. The core of the city was destroyed by Israel and Egypt to create a large buffer zone.

Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing, the sole crossing point between Egypt and the State of Palestine. Gaza's only airport, Yasser Arafat International Airport, was located just south of the city. The airport operated from 1998 to 2001, until it was bombed and bulldozed by the Israeli military (IDF) after the killing of Israeli soldiers by members of Hamas.

Etymology

Over the ages it has been known as "Robihwa" by the ancient Egyptians, "Rafihu" by the Assyrians, "Ῥαφία, Rhaphia" by the Greeks, "Raphia" by Romans, רפיח "Rafiaḥ" by the Israelites, "Rafh" by the Arab Caliphate. The transliteration of the Hebrew name, "Rafiah", is used in modern English alongside "Rafah"