On 10 January 2002,IDF forces demolished sixty houses,and partially demolished four more,in the Rafah refugee camp,near the Egyptian border. The action left more than six hundred Palestinians homeless.The media in Israel and throughout the world published pictures of the residents and their demolished homes,and for several days,the demolition was at the heart of the Israeli public debate.

The debate focussed primarily on how many houses the IDF demolished and whether the houses were occupied at the time.The IDF steadfastly maintained that only twenty-two houses had been demolished and that they had been abandoned for many months.The residents,human rights organizations, and humanitarian organizations contended that the number of houses that were demolished was much higher, and that at least some residents were living in the houses when the IDF began its demolition.The public debate rarely addressed the question of whether the house demolitions were justifi ed.