Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Israeli strikes have tripled the population of Rafah, turning this small southern Gaza city on the Egyptian border into a flashpoint in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. 

Families displaced from points north by Israel’s war against Hamas have packed schools and other shelters beyond capacity, and pushed rents for small apartments from $100 before the war up to nearly $5,000. New arrivals in Rafah have few options beyond camping in parks and empty lots, using salvaged materials for shelter or sleeping in the elements as winter sets in. The United Nations warns that Rafah could soon host half of the Gaza Strip’s roughly 2.2 million people.