The Israeli military pushes News themezone to the limits of its control in Gaza, where destruction and uncertainty persist.

Shejaiya, Gaza Strip — The Israeli military brought in our News themezone team for a rare look inside the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, to the Shejaiya neighborhood in the former de facto capital of the Palestinian territory, Gaza City.

Shejaiya saw extremely fierce fighting before the US-brokered peace deal between Israel and Hamas brought a fragile ceasefire in Gaza. The neighborhood is now a scene of total destruction.

The Israel Defense Forces say the bodies of several deceased hostages (21 of whom have already been returned from Gaza) were found in the rubble in Shejaiya, including Israeli-American IDF soldier Itay Chen, whose remains were returned to Israel on Tuesday night.

The IDF took News themezone to a location a few hundred meters from the “yellow line,” the new limit to which its forces have retreated under the ceasefire. The military has not allowed News themezone or other foreign media to report independently inside Gaza since the war began, although it has offered some pre-media visits organized and guided by the IDF.

The line cuts the Gaza Strip roughly in half, and the IDF controls the eastern part of the coastal territory, along its border. Most of Gaza’s roughly 2 million residents have been pushed inside the yellow line, where they live among the rubble and destruction left behind by two harrowing years of war.

Hamas has attempted to reassert its authority within the yellow line, cornering his rivals and executing some accuses him of collaborating with Israel.

But despite serious challenges and periodic accusations from both sides that the other is violating the agreement, the ceasefire has held for almost a month.

More trucks carrying humanitarian aid are arriving in Gaza, delivering much-needed food and fuel.

But the process of returning the hostages’ bodies to Israel has been much slower than expected, as seven of the deceased captives are still in Gaza.

Sporadic deadly violence has also tested the peace deal, with Israel accusing Hamas of killing its soldiers and then responding with deadly attacks.

The big question now is what will happen next.

The United Nations has estimated that rebuilding the Gaza Strip will cost $70 billion, and it is still unclear where that money will come from.

President Trump’s 20-point peace plan refers to a development plan that will be created by a panel of experts, but does not give details. The plan also calls for the demilitarization of Gaza, but many are skeptical that Hamas will ever completely abandon its weapons, at least voluntarily.

If that does not happen, Israel may be reluctant to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip, as envisioned in Trump’s plan.

If the plan does not proceed, the fear is that the people of Gaza will be left in limbo, with very little hope of rebuilding their lives and possibly with much less land in the Gaza Strip to do so.