The Battle of Rafa, also known as the Action of Rafah, fought on 9 January 1917, was the third and final battle to complete the recapture of the Sinai Peninsula by British forces during the Sinai and Palestine campaign of the First World War. The Desert Column of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) attacked an entrenched Ottoman Army garrison at El Magruntein to the south of Rafah, close to the frontier between the Sultanate of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, to the north and east of Sheikh Zowaiid. The attack marked the beginning of fighting in the Ottoman territory of Palestine.

After the British Empire victories at the Battle of Romani in August 1916 and the Battle of Magdhaba in December, the Ottoman Army had been forced back to the southern edge of Palestine as the EEF pushed eastwards supported by extended lines of communication. This advance depended on the construction of a railway and a water pipeline. With the railway reaching El Arish on 4 January 1917, an attack on Rafa by the newly formed Desert Column became possible. During the day-long assault, the Ottoman garrison defended El Magruntein's series of fortified redoubts and trenches on rising ground surrounded by flat grassland. They were eventually encircled by Australian Light Horsemen, New Zealand mounted riflemen, mounted yeomanry, cameliers and armoured cars. In the late afternoon, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade captured the central redoubt and the remaining defences were occupied shortly afterwards.

Following their victory at the Battle of Romani on 4 August 1916, the ANZAC Mounted Division with the 5th Mounted Brigade attached and infantry in support, went onto the offensive. Their advance depended on the construction of a railway and a water pipeline. With the railhead about 40 miles (64 km) away, on 23 December 1916, the ANZAC Mounted Division, less the 2nd Light Horse Brigade but with the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade attached, occupied El Arish during day-long fighting at the Battle of Magdhaba. Meanwhile, the 52nd (Lowland) Division, having marched from Romani, established a garrison at El Arish and began to fortify the town on the Mediterranean Sea, 30 mi (48 km) from the railhead.

El Arish was 90 mi (140 km) by road from the nearest British base, at Kantara, on the Suez Canal, initially making resupply difficult. The arrival of the Royal Navy on 22 December, quickly followed by the first stores on 24 December, meant that during the next fortnight the important Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) forward base grew quickly as 1,500 tons of supplies arrived by ship. Supplies of all kinds were unloaded by the Egyptian Labour Corps and distributed by the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps. Vitally important, the supply activities at El Arish were protected by the infantry garrison and ground-based artillery, supported by the navy. On 4 January 1917, the first construction train arrived at El Arish, but it was some time before the railway, with its vast capacity to support the development of infrastructure and the supply of large garrisons, was fully developed.

General Sir Archibald Murray, the commander of the EEF, was keen to complete the advance across the north of the Sinai, to put pressure on the southern Ottoman army. Believing an attack would compel Ottoman forces to abandon their desert bases and outposts on the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, he ordered an advance from El Arish to Rafa, a distance of 27 mi (43 km), to begin as soon as possible.

On 28 December, Major General Harry Chauvel, commander of the ANZAC Mounted Division, ordered the 1st Light Horse Brigade to reconnoitre Bir el Burj, 12 mi (19 km) along the road from El Arish towards Rafa. The road was found to be suitable for cars and artillery, and a further reconnaissance by the same brigade two days later to Sheikh Zowaiid, 20 mi (32 km) from El Arish, reported rolling stretches of pasture, crops and poppies. A small advance guard moved ten mi (16 km) further, to within sight of the main Ottoman defences at El Magruntein, reporting "great activity" in the area.

The weather cleared on 5 January, allowing a patrol from No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (AFC), to observe 2,000 to 3,000 Ottoman soldiers digging defences south of Rafa in the area of El Magruntein. Two days later, British air patrols found Ottoman garrisons in strength at El Kossaima and Hafir el Auja in central northern Sinai, which could threaten the right flank of the advancing EEF or reinforce Rafa. While the British air patrols were absent on 7 January, German airmen took advantage of the growing concentration of EEF formations and supply dumps, bombing El Arish during the morning and evening. The next day the patrols from No. 1 Squadron AFC were in the air all day, covering preparations for the attack on Rafa.

Lieutenant General Philip Chetwode, commanding the Desert Column, rode out of El Arish at 16:00 on 8 January towards Rafa where a 2,000-strong Ottoman garrison was based. Chetwode's mounted force was the same one that Chauvel had commanded during the Battle of Magdhaba in December, with the addition of the 5th Mounted Brigade (which had been garrisoning El Arish) and the 7th Light Car Patrol consisting of four gun cars and three stores cars. Risking an aerial attack during daylight hours, the force began the 30 mi (48 km) journey before sunset to ensure there was enough time for the force to reach El Magruntein. For the first few miles they trekked over heavy sand dunes, which were difficult to negotiate for the doubled teams of horses pulling the guns and ammunition wagons. Once the great shallow trough, worn down by traffic since ancient times, along the Old Road or Pilgrims' Way appeared, the guns and ammunition wagons travelled on the firm middle way while the mounted units rode on either side. The vanguard of the column reached Sheikh Zowaiid at about 22:00; the Desert Column bivouacked near the crossroads to the west of the village. Here the first grass the horses had seen since leaving Australia was found on the edge of the fertile maritime plain, 16 mi (26 km) north of El Arish.