Israel invites reporters into Rafah for first visit by international media since city was invaded

(7 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++PLEASE NOTE THIS MATERIAL WAS SHOT BY AN AP VIDEOGRAPHER EMBEDDED WITH ISRAELI FORCES. AS A CONDITION OF THE EMBED, THE AP AGREED TO SUBMIT THE MATERIAL TO THE ISRAELI MILITARY CENSOR, WHICH DID NOT MAKE DELETIONS++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kerem Shalom crossing, Israel - 3 July 2024
1. Israeli military vehicles entering Gaza via Kerem Shalom crossing
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gaza Strip - 3 July 2024
2. Israeli military vehicles driving into Gaza Strip
3. Aid trucks queuing
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Philadelphi corridor, Gaza Strip - 3 July 2024
4. Various of travelling shots along Philadelphi corridor
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rafah, Gaza Strip - 3 July 2024
5. Military vehicles driving on dusty road in Rafah showing destroyed buildings
6. Pan of destruction
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesperson:
“Hamas has been building all these tunnels, some of these tunnels are boobytrapped, and Hamas built everything in a civilian neighborhood among houses, among mosques, among the population, in order to create its terror ecosystem. This is part of the Rafah Brigade military framework. The Rafah Brigade military framework has a couple of functionals. One functional is to smuggle arms into Gaza. This is being taken, being taken care of now in Philadelphi corridor and other places like those tunnels.”
8. Soldiers and embedded journalist in military vehicles, UPSOUND “gunshots”
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesperson:
“Another functional of the Rafah Brigade is to create a tunnel system that will allow them to survive and fight against Israel. This is being now demolished. Another functional of the Hamas Rafah Brigade was to make sure there is a lot of mortars and a lot of rockets that could be fired to Israel. Some of it embedded in houses, some of it embedded next to the Egyptian border so we will not attack.”
10. Pan from Hagari to destruction and dust
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesperson:
“Rafah Brigade is a metaphor for all Hamas military frameworks around Gaza. Time is working against Hamas.”
12. Soldiers and military vehicles near destroyed buildings
STORYLINE:
Two months ago, before Israeli troops invaded Rafah, the city sheltered most of Gaza's more than 2 million people.
Today it is a dust-covered ghost town.
Abandoned, bullet-ridden apartment buildings have blasted out walls and shattered windows.
Bedrooms and kitchens are visible from roads dotted with rubble piles that tower over the Israeli military vehicles passing by.
Very few civilians remain.
Israel says it has nearly defeated Hamas forces in Rafah - an area identified earlier this year as the militant group’s last stronghold in Gaza.
The Israeli military invited reporters into Rafah on Wednesday, the first time international media visited Gaza's southernmost city since it was invaded on May 6.
Israel has barred international journalists from entering Gaza independently since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that sparked the war.
Before invading Rafah, Israel said Hamas' four remaining battalions had retreated there, an area of about 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) that borders Egypt.
Israel says hundreds of militants have been killed in its Rafah offensive.
Scores of women and children have also died from Israeli airstrikes and ground operations.
The military says it has been necessary to operate with such intensity because Hamas turned civilian areas into treacherous traps. Eight soldiers were killed last month by a single blast.
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[@nusshan]

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[@nurlindafsihotang49]

Acting like rafah and gaza already theirs, i see....