The armed convoy of jeeps filled with reporters rumbled into a dusty Rafah, passing flattened houses and battered apartment buildings.
As we dismounted our Humvees, a stillness gripped this swath of southern Gaza, near the border with Egypt.
More than a million people have fled to avoid an Israeli onslaught that began two months ago.
As Israel says it is winding down its operation against Hamas in Rafah, the Israeli military invited foreign journalists into the city on a supervised visit.
The military says that it has fought with precision and restraint against Hamas fighters embedded in civilian areas.
Persons:
rumbled, Israel
Locations:
Rafah, Gaza, Egypt