Israel-Hamas war: What is the Rafah border crossing and who controls it?
At the southern tip of Gaza on the border with Egypt is the dusty and chaotic Rafah border crossing.
Diplomatic efforts are under way to open it for a few hours for foreign nationals and Gazans who hold dual nationality.
It would mean an escape from the war for a limited number of Palestinians. But most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people will remain trapped inside the war-ravaged enclave.
Rafah is Gaza’s only gateway to the rest of the world that’s not directly controlled by Israel.
A map showing the Rafah border crossing
It is under the control of Egypt as part of an agreement with Israel and the European Union.
However, it has never been a normal, fully open border crossing.
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Over the years it has been closed for days, weeks and months at a time. When it does open it’s often intermittent and can suddenly close again.
The people of Gaza never know when it will open or for how long, so it’s impossible for them to plan their lives.
If you are stuck outside Gaza when Rafah closes, there is no chance to get back in again.
Even under the best of conditions, the crossing is unreliable and unstable.
What always struck when reporting from Rafah was the sheer despair and desperation of Gazans waiting to travel.
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Rafah Crossing: Trying to flee Gaza
When it was open the crossing would be packed with people, sometimes thousands, all unsure if they would actually make it.
Women would sit for hours on suitcases, children playing in the dirt, a cacophony of taxis, cars and donkey carts all jostling for space.
And in the middle of it all the reunions and farewells of families who didn’t know when they’d see each other again. Never sure when the border would be open or closed.
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Egypt tightly controls the Rafah crossing and Palestinians accuse it of being complicit in the siege on Gaza by refusing to keep the border permanently open 24 hours a day.
There is no incentive for Egypt to now open this crossing and allow hundreds of thousands of Gazans to escape from the war.
If it did, the people of Gaza would become Egypt’s problem and that’s the last thing Cairo wants.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
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