In brief
After nearly two years of warfare, Gaza has suffered unprecedented devastation. A recent controlled visit by journalists offers a glimpse into the destruction, as neighborhoods are rendered unrecognizable. The situation on the ground remains tense, from rising death tolls to fears of continued conflict. Israeli officials stress that their operations aim to neutralize threats from Hamas, while humanitarian concerns deepen.
From an embankment overlooking Gaza City, there's no hiding what this war has done. The Gaza of maps and memories is gone, replaced by a monochrome landscape of rubble stretching flat and still for 180 degrees, from Beit Hanoun on one side to Gaza City on the other.
Beyond the distant shapes of buildings still standing inside Gaza City, there's almost nothing left to orient you here, or identify the neighborhoods that once held tens of thousands of people. This was one of the first areas Israeli ground troops entered in the early weeks of the war. Since then they have been back multiple times, as Hamas regrouped around its strongholds in the area.
Israel does not allow news organizations to report independently from Gaza. Today, it took a group of journalists, including the BBC, into the area of the Strip occupied by Israeli forces. The brief visit was highly controlled and offered no access to Palestinians or other areas of Gaza. Military censorship laws in Israel mean that military personnel were shown the material before publication. The BBC maintained editorial control of this report at all times.
Asked about the level of destruction in the area visited, Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said it was not a goal. The goal is to combat terrorists. Almost every house had a tunnel shaft or was booby-trapped or had an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] or sniper station, he said.
Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 68,000 Gazans have been reported killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, with ongoing searches for hundreds of others still missing. With the ceasefire barely holding, tensions rise as Israeli forces continue their operations against Hamas.
What happens next in this fragile situation is uncertain. The U.S. has expressed intentions to stabilize Gaza under an international force, but the road ahead remains fraught with challenges and unanswered questions regarding control and humanitarian needs.
