RAFAH, Gaza Strip — For nearly 16 months, Israeli airstrikes pounded the Gaza Strip, flattening entire neighborhoods and leveling tens of thousands of structures.
A ceasefire agreement that began last Sunday has paused the war between Israel and Hamas, but this small territory — home to some 2 million Palestinians — now lies in ruins.
Israeli troops have withdrawn from city centers in Gaza as part of the deal.
For the first time in eight months, NPR got a glimpse of one of those cities this week. Rafah is where more than a million displaced Palestinians and most international aid workers sheltered during the first half of the war. The Rafah crossing with Egypt served as Gaza's lifeline for food, medical supplies and fuel during those months.
But this city, like all of Gaza, was never safe. Entire families were killed while sheltering in Rafah.
When Israeli ground troops invaded the city in May in their pursuit of Hamas, people were forced to flee again. Israel's military says it found Hamas tunnels and weapons in Rafah, and three months ago, it was where they killed Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Controlled demolitions, bulldozers and heavy airstrikes by Israel during the military's eight month-long incursion there demolished the city: Some 16,000 buildings are completely destroyed, 80% of Rafah's agricultural land has been destroyed, and all of its electricity networks, landlines, water wells and sewage pumping stations are destroyed or severely damaged, according to the latest municipality figures.
Here is a selection of photos showing the city before Israeli ground forces entered in May 2024 — the last time NPR was there — and what it looks like in their wake.
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