Images Show Crowds Gathering At The Rafah Border Crossing Between Gaza And Egypt

The Rafah border crossing is located on the Gaza-Egypt border and is the only border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
For most of the more than two million Palestinians living in the enclave, this represents the only possible exit from the area as Israel continues its airstrikes campaign.

Maxar has collected new satellite images in the last 24 hours focusing on Gaza’s southern border and the Rafah crossing leading into Egypt.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday that the worsening humanitarian crisis had become “truly drastic”. Crowds of people could be seen on the Gaza side of the border waiting to leave, and an aid convoy of trucks was lined up at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt.

The Rafah border crossing is located on the Gaza-Egypt border and is the only border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. For most of the more than two million Palestinians living in the enclave, this represents the only possible way out as Israel continues its airstrikes campaign.

Egypt is strictly restricting the opening of the Rafah border crossing and has been reluctant to open it to passenger traffic unless Israel allows humanitarian aid to enter the area.

Talks between Egypt and Israel on Monday failed to produce a green light for the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.

People living in the area were caught in the crossfire of the war between Israel and Hamas after Israel declared a full siege on the Gaza Strip early last week following a devastating attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7.

The United Nations has repeatedly called for humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing.

Here are some of the latest images from the Rafah border crossing:

Maxar has collected new satellite images in the last 24 hours focusing on Gaza’s southern border and the Rafah crossing leading into Egypt.

Palestinians, some with foreign passports hoping to get into Egypt and others waiting for help, wait at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on October 16, 2023.

Photo only | Photo only | Getty Images

Aid convoy trucks are seen at the Rafah-Gaza border in North Sinai, Egypt, on October 17, 2023.

Mahmoud Khaled | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Volunteers and NGO workers are seen at the Rafah-Gaza border in North Sinai, Egypt, on October 17, 2023.

Mahmoud Khaled | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Palestinians, some with foreign passports hoping to get into Egypt and others waiting for help, wait at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on October 16, 2023.

Mohammed Abed | Afp | Getty Images

Tamara Alrifai, spokeswoman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Tuesday it was crucial for the group to be able to urgently and safely distribute humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

“In the last two days there have been reports of about a million people – that’s a sea of people – moving south by any means possible, and given the lack of fuel in Gaza, many of them moved on foot. The images we have “I have received harrowing images from my colleagues of people running around on their feet under airstrikes and bombings, trying to find shelter in a safer area,” Alrifai told CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe.”

“My colleagues from UNRWA have also moved south and are now in one of our logistics bases, essentially a warehouse in the south of the strip. In this warehouse, my colleagues work, sleep and eat whatever they find along with around 6,000 civilians from Gaza.”

Alrifai said conditions in the camp were “very, very difficult” and noted that her UNRWA colleagues each had access to one liter of drinking water per day.

“The situation is really dramatic. We have to get help. We have to get supplies. We need to get fuel and, most importantly, all access needs to be safe,” she added.