NORTHERN GAZA STRIP — It is utterly quiet in a place once known as one of the most densely populated in the world.
The Israeli military took me and a small group of other international journalists inside Gaza on Wednesday, nearly one month into the ceasefire.
It was the first time I had entered Gaza after two years of war.
We stood at the edge of an Israeli military outpost, looking out at what used to be the bustling Shujaiya neighborhood outside Gaza City.
It was the scene of fierce fighting during the war. Now it is a wasteland of destruction.
The tall high-rise buildings not demolished in Gaza City are seen in the far distance. Around them is a vast monochrome expanse as far as the eye can see.
Piles of concrete that used to be homes. Skeletons of schools. Concrete beams standing in the dirt like tall tombstones.
For years before the war, I would enter Gaza every few months, to report for NPR. I remember driving through the Shujaiyeh neighborhood on my way to the center of Gaza City.
Now it is unrecognizable.
Gaza is now divided in two
We were brought to an Israeli military outpost close to the "yellow line," where Israeli forces withdrew to as part of the ceasefire deal that divides Gaza in half between areas controlled by Israel and Hamas.
Palestinians aren't allowed to return to live in the half of Gaza where Israeli troops are stationed. They are living on the other side of Gaza under Hamas control.
The military showed us a map of Hamas tunnel routes Israeli forces are still discovering and demolishing in the area.
Israel has allowed Hamas and the International Committee of the Red Cross to access this area to uncover the bodies of hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel's military is dug in for the long term
There is a plan for the next phase of the ceasefire: A multinational peacekeeping force is supposed to deploy in Gaza, and Hamas is supposed to disarm. Only then, Israel says, will it withdraw from Gaza.
Questions remain: Will these next steps proceed as planned? If not, is the alternative a return to war? Is this temporary division of Gaza the new status quo?
Israel's military says it is building the infrastructure to prepare its troops to occupy this half of Gaza for the foreseeable future. This Israeli military outpost has a tall cellphone tower, electricity poles and cement walls.
On the other side of the yellow line, Hamas is digging in, too — regrouping after the war and consolidating control of its part of Gaza.
A tightly controlled visit
Israel only allows select journalists into Gaza for brief visits escorted by soldiers. We were restricted in who we could interview or film among the soldiers. We did not see Palestinians.
As a condition of the visit, Israel's military censor reviewed NPR's raw audio and video. It prohibited NPR from publishing an Israeli military map of Gaza, but did not prohibit the publication of any other material.
Even now that there's a ceasefire, Israel does not allow journalists to enter Gaza independently. The Foreign Press Association in Israel and the Palestinian territories, of which NPR is a member, has challenged the government at Israel's Supreme Court to let journalists into the territory. The government has a Nov. 23 deadline to tell the court its position on independent entry for journalists to Gaza.
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