The Desert Column of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force ( EEF ) attacked Attack 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 .

With the railway reaching Arriving El Arish on 4 January 1917 , an attack Attack on Rafa by the newly formed Coming_to_be Desert Column became Becoming possible .