Sky News has been given rare access inside Rafa in the Gaza Strip to see firsthand the level of Destruction since the outbreak of War almost a year ago our team witnessed the devastation and ongoing battles in the streets as Israel's Defense Forces attempted to eliminate remaining Hamas Fighters our team were taken into the region through the Philadelphia Corridor which runs along gaza's border with Egypt Israel still bans foreign journalists from entering Gaza independently Sky News was granted access by the Israeli military though our team's movements were restricted and the material we gathered had to be authorized by the IDF our Middle East correspondent Alisa bunkle reports this was Rafa a quarter of a million people lived here before the war today it is almost deserted the IDF says it has now defeated hamas's a brigade but pockets of Hamas Fighters remain as we were filming there was a gun battle in the next street a Hamas sniper had been spotted this neighborhood the Israeli military say was the stronghold of hamas's Rafa Brigade the houses here in the foreground that are all flattened that is because the Israeli military is demolished and blown up the tunnel Network underneath them International journalists are still banned from entering Gaza independently traveling with the IDF is the only way in the Israeli military checked our pictures before broadcast but didn't ask us to change anything artillery shells have blown holes in walls and revealed the privacy of family lives before clothes still hang in a wardrobe left presumably as the owners fled the innocence of a child's tricycle is a flash of color admid the gray dust and Rubble bullet holes decorate walls and ceilings I know how bad this looks one soldier privately told me but we had no choice Hamas had months to prepare for the raff of fight they set booby traps in houses and fought hard so though quite clearly did the IDF I mean look at this there's nothing I can say that does more Justice than the pitches themselves and it's impossible to know whether this kind of level of Destruction was militarily necessary or whether it's some scorched Earth policy but surely if there is ever a ceasefire here this is going to take decades to rebuild the six Israeli hostages murdered two weeks ago were found in this tunnel the entry shaft was under Charles bedroom painted with Disney figures it joins a vast underground Network tens of kilm long much of it still uncovered we drove into Gaza along the Egyptian border the Philadelphia Corridor newly tarmacked and under Israeli control the Israeli military says it's uncovered nine tunnels running into Egypt they'd already been blocked off by Hamas before the Israelis got there machines nearby are drilling deep into the ground in search of more tunnels Hamas insists the IDF must leave here Benjamin Netanyahu is refusing the role of the IDF is to achieve the defeat the military in control and make the cabinet do the political decision for the future but you have defeated the ra Brigade what I mean we have created the conditions for the cabinet to make the decisions for the future so you've created the conditions you've eliminated most of the Rafer Brigade youve got control of the Philadelphia Crossing so the cabinet has a number of options it could choose exactly there is still hope ful talk of a ceasefire but frankly it doesn't feel likely the war in Gaza is changing it's moving towards a grinding counterinsurgency and if that's what the Israeli government wants then it could be like this for years alist bunkle Sky News in Rafa Southern Gaza