ALWAGHT- Israel has ramped up demolitions in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, amid reports of a plan to confine the territory’s entire Palestinian population in a camp constructed over the town’s ruins.
As of July 4, 2025, nearly 28,600 buildings have been demolished in Rafah, up from 15,800 in early April, according to UNOSAT data. This sharp increase—roughly 12,800 buildings in just three months—highlights the rapid pace of destruction in the southern Gaza city, once home to around 275,000 people. Rafah now lies mostly in ruins.
The demolitions coincide with Israeli military affairs minister Israel Katz’s plan to construct a so-called “humanitarian city” on Rafah’s rubble. The camp, initially intended to house 600,000 displaced Palestinians, would be under full Israeli military control, with residents subject to security screening and prohibited from leaving. Katz has openly called it part of an “emigration plan” to eventually move Gaza’s entire population—over 2 million people—out of the territory.
Legal experts and international officials have condemned the proposal, warning it may amount to a crime against humanity. Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard called the plan a blueprint for mass deportation. UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said it would create “massive concentration camps” along Egypt’s border and erase any hope for Palestinians to remain in their homeland. Similar plans were reportedly shared with the Trump administration, which envisioned Gaza as US-controlled land where residents would be “deradicalized” and relocated.
