In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “town in the gaza strip”. Today it says “largely destroyed and depopulated city in the southern gaza strip”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Rafah (Arabic: رفح Hebrew: רפיח) is a town in the Gaza Strip , on the Egyptian border, and a nearby town on the Egyptian side of the border, on the Sinai Peninsula . Over the ages is has been known as Robihwa by Egyptians, Rafihu by Assyrians , Raphia by Greeks and Romans , and now Rafah by the Arabs . The Aramaic text Targum Onkelos interpretted the Biblical location of Chatzerim as referring to Rafah, but there is no other evidence for this. It is the largest town in the southern Strip, with a population of about 96,000, of which some 44,000 live in the two refugee camps about it, Canada Camp to the north, and Rafah camp to the south.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16415884.
The opening as it stood in 2010 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Palestinian Authority municipality Rafah ( ) (also Rafiah ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip .Located to mi south of Gaza , Rafah's population of 71,003 is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees .Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan form separate localities.It serves as the district capital of the Rafah Governorate .Yasser Arafat International Airport , Gaza's only airport, is located just south of the city; the airport operated from 1998 to 2001, when it was bombed and bulldozed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing , the only crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369718786.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Palestinian Authority municipality Rafah ( ; Rafiah ; officially مخَيَّم رَفَحْ; Mukhayyam Rafaḩ ), is a Palestinian city and refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip .Located 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of Gaza , Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees .Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan camp form separate localities.Rafah is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate .Yasser Arafat International Airport , Gaza's only airport, is located just south of the city; the airport operated from 1998 to 2001, when it was bombed and bulldozed by the Israeli military (IDF) after the killing of Israeli soldiers by members of Hamas .Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing , the main crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 662852495.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Municipality type A in State of Palestine Rafah ( – Rafaḥ ) is a Palestinian city and refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip .It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate , located 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of Gaza City . Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of Palestinian refugees . Rafah camp and Tall as-Sultan camp form separate localities. When Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1982, Rafah was split into a Gazan part and an Egyptian part , dividing families, separated by barbed-wire barriers.The core of the city was destroyed by Israel and Egypt to create a large buffer zone .Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing , the sole crossing point between Egypt and the State of Palestine .Gaza's only airport, Yasser Arafat International Airport , was located just south of the city.The report on refworld: .The tenth Report on Israeli Land Sweeping and Demolition of Palestinian Buildings and Facilities in the Gaza Strip 1 April 2003 – 30 April 2004 On [2] Egyptian military doubling buffer zone with Gaza , demolishing nearly 1,220 more homes .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 961752882.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip This article is about the city in Gaza Strip.City in State of Palestine Rafah ( ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip . It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate , located 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of Gaza City . Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestinian refugees . When Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1982, Rafah was split into a Gazan part and an Egyptian part , dividing families, separated by barbed-wire barriers. The core of the city was destroyed by Israel and Egypt to create a large buffer zone . Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing , the sole crossing point between Egypt and the State of Palestine . Gaza's only airport, Yasser Arafat International Airport , was located just south of the city. The airport operated from 1998 to 2001, until it was bombed and bulldozed by the Israeli military (IDF) after the killing of Israeli soldiers by members of Hamas ."Palestinians criticize Hamas' decision to appoint municipal presidents - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East" . The report on refworld: . The tenth Report on Israeli Land Sweeping and Demolition of Palestinian Buildings and Facilities in the Gaza Strip 1 April 2003 – 30 April 2004 On [2] Egyptian military doubling buffer zone with Gaza , demolishing nearly 1,220 more homes .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171110102.
The opening as it stood in 2025 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Palestinian city in southern Gaza Strip This article is about the city in the Gaza Strip, in Palestine.City in State of Palestine Rafah ( Arabic : رفح Rafaḥ [rafaħ] ) is a city in the southern Gaza Strip , Palestine , and the capital of the Rafah Governorate .It is located 30 kilometers (19 mi) south-west of Gaza City .In 2017, Rafah had a population of 171,889.Due to the Gaza war , about 1.4 million people from Gaza City and Khan Yunis , about 70% of Gaza's population, were displaced to Rafah, as of February 2024.By April 2025, most of the city was destroyed during the war.After the 1948 Palestine war , Egypt governed the area and refugee camps for displaced Palestinians who fled or were expelled from what became Israel were established.During the Suez Crisis , the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) killed 111 Palestinians, including 103 refugees in the Rafah refugee camp, during the 1956 Rafah massacre .During the 1967 Six-Day War , Israeli forces occupied the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip after capturing them from Egypt.In the same year, IDF troops bulldozed and demolished 144 houses in the Rafah refugee camp, killing 23 Palestinians. When Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1982, Rafah was split into a Gazan part and an Egyptian part , dividing families, separated by barbed-wire barriers. The core of the city was destroyed by Israel, as well as Egypt, in order to create a large buffer zone . Rafah is the site of the Rafah Border Crossing , the sole crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip . Gaza's only airport, Yasser Arafat International Airport , was located just south of the city. The airport operated from 1998 to 2001, when it was bombed and bulldozed by the IDF.International Organization for Standardization . "Palestinians criticize Hamas' decision to appoint municipal presidents – Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East" . "Israel's Unrwa ban is 'jeopardising peace', warns agency chief – as it happened" . the Guardian .Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report)."Gaza: Israel's military operation in Rafah would be fatal for displaced civilians and humanitarian aid" .Norwegian Refugee Council . 8 February 2024 .Now Israel Is Razing It" .The New York Times . The report on refworld: . The tenth Report on Israeli Land Sweeping and Demolition of Palestinian Buildings and Facilities in the Gaza Strip 1 April 2003 – 30 April 2004 On [2] Egyptian military doubling buffer zone with Gaza, demolishing nearly 1,220 more homes . Human Rights Watch, September 2015 "Grounded in Gaza, but hoping to fly again" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297802829. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “town in the gaza strip”. Today it says “largely destroyed and depopulated city in the southern gaza strip”. Read the current article and compare.
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
town in the gaza strip
Now
largely destroyed and depopulated city in the southern gaza strip
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
