The devastated city of Rafah has become a ghost amid ceasefire and loose hostage negotiations

RAFAH, Gaza – Property was destroyed, buildings reduced to rubble and apart from sporadic gunfire there were few signs of opportunity. That’s all there is to see now in parts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which was once home to more than 1 million people.

NBC News was granted special access to Rafah last fall, as Israeli forces operated in the city and stepped up efforts to negotiate a cease-fire that would end fighting in the enclave and free people from the enclave. Will be monitored. Of hostages.

Israel no longer allows foreign journalists to freely enter Gaza, so Israel Defense Forces soldiers directed NBC News and other American outlets into the enclave. NBC reported being right to share the raw video with the IDF and blur the faces of any teenage infantrymen. It did not allow the IDF to see this written record.

After entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom border crossing at the corner of Gaza, Israel and Egypt, a military convoy traveled along the Philadelphia Hall – the name of the southern border between Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The roadway was bordered by a high fence.

The covered towers and flags of Egypt may be visible on the alternate aspect.

Rafa is now an empty husk with almost every alternative structure completely flattened out. Those that remained upright were riddled with holes from small arms smoke and artillery fire.

Sporadic firing suggests fighting is ongoing.

The desolate paths and sand blowing from the beach-sized dunes gave way to the playground forever abandoned.

At one stage, a man and a child were peeking out from behind window curtains on the third floor of a dilapidated building. They temporarily disappeared from view.

Until just a few months ago, Rafah, a pre-war nation From about 250,000, its number swelled to more than 1 million, as many displaced people sought the nearest safe haven.

Many built small homes in tents and makeshift buildings, some opened shops in the market and some volunteered to help the sick and injured or arranged programs for youth struggling with injuries.

This all changed in May, when Israeli forces began an operation in the city, instructing the population to evacuate and moving north towards Muwasi in central Gaza. Which the IDF has designated a “safe” area.

Now, much of Rafah lies in ruins and Israeli infantrymen said they were recently interested in digging tunnels beneath the city’s border with Egypt, which could Inability to smuggle contraband and guns.

IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told Newshounds that one of the vital tunnels was badly stuck. He noted that there were “tunnels beneath” vast sections of the city. He said that one of the important shafts “had houses in it.”

He added that the IDF was once “checking the tunnels…to make sure we demolished it the right way.”

The Israeli army has said that its forces have entered the third phase of its operation in Gaza, even though they have not yet advanced well.

On Monday, the army said its forces also announced new operations, focusing on Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists in the Gaza Town branch in the north. It said the troops were acting on information that indicated the presence of “terrorist infrastructure, operatives, weapons and investigation and detention cells”, including the UNRWA headquarters.

NBC News was not immediately able to independently investigate the IDF’s claims and a spokesperson for UNRWA, the United Nations agency for refugees, said they had no information about the attacks. UNRWA has repeatedly denied allegations that its facilities are being targeted by Hamas.

An NBC news team in the grasslands of Gaza City said the sounds of gunfire, airstrikes and artillery fire could be heard around the city.

The apparent resurgence of the presence of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the north reflects a trend of militants re-emerging in areas the IDF had previously cleared.

The US has already warned that Israel will not be able to completely get rid of the Hamas presence in Gaza, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously called it the biggest target of the war. Freeing all the hostages.

Elsewhere, CIA Director William Burns is expected to visit the Qatari capital Doha this hour to take part in talks aimed at ending the conflict, a senior management general trusted with the plans told NBC News.

State officials in the enclave say more than 38,000 people were killed in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attacks, with Israel saying about 1,200 were killed and about 250 others taken hostage.

Matt Bradley reported from Rafah and Chantal da Silva from London.