Shejaiya, Gaza Strip — The Israeli military brought our CBS News team for a rare look deep inside the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, to the Shejaiya neighborhood in the Palestinian territory’s former de-facto capital, Gaza City.Shejaiya saw extremely fierce fighting before the U.S.-brokered peace deal between Israel and Hamas brought a fragile ceasefire to Gaza. The neighborhood is now a scene of utter destruction.The Israel Defense Forces says the bodies of several deceased hostages — 21 of whom have now been returned from Gaza — were found amid the rubble in Shejaiya, including Israeli American IDF soldier Itay Chen, whose remains were brought back to Israel on Tuesday night.The IDF brought CBS News to a location within a few hundred yards of the “yellow line,” the new boundary to which its forces have withdrawn under the ceasefire. The military has not allowed CBS News or other foreign outlets to report independently inside Gaza since the war began, though it has offered a few previous IDF-organized and guided media tours.The line cuts the Gaza Strip roughly in half, with the IDF in control of the eastern portion of the coastal territory, along its border. Most of Gaza’s roughly 2 million residents have been pushed inside the yellow line, where they’re living in the rubble and destruction left behind by two harrowing years of war.Hamas has attempted to reassert its authority inside the yellow line, rounding up rivals and executing some it accuses of collaborating with Israel.But despite serious challenges and regular accusations by both sides that the other is violating the deal, the ceasefire has held for nearly a month.More trucks carrying humanitarian aid are getting into Gaza, delivering much needed food and fuel.But the process of returning the bodies of hostages to Israel has been much slower than was hoped, with seven of the deceased captives still in Gaza.Sporadic deadly violence has also tested the peace deal, with Israel accusing Hamas of killing its soldiers and then responding with lethal strikes.The big question now is what happens next.The United Nations has estimated that it will cost $70 billion to rebuild the Gaza Strip, and it’s not yet clear where that money will come from.President Trump’s 20-point peace plan refers to a development plan to be created by a panel of experts, but it is light on details. The plan also calls for the demilitarization of Gaza, but many are skeptical that Hamas will ever completely give up its weapons, at least willingly.If that doesn’t happen, Israel may be reluctant to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip, as envisioned by Mr. Trump’s plan.If the plan doesn’t stay on track, the fear is that the people of Gaza could be left in limbo, with very little hope of rebuilding their lives — and possibly with far less of the Gaza Strip’s land left to do it in.
