A small group of journalists entered the Gaza Strip from the Erez Crossing in southern Israel on Thursday. ILTV Correspondent Shosh Bedrosian, partnered with YNet News, was one of the three journalists to be selected to go inside Gaza, a process that’s taken many weeks.

Before officers and soldiers from Battalion 969 accompanied our group with armored vehicles in the ravaged enclave, massive explosions could be seen and heard just over the border fence. Large plumes of layered smoke could be seen from the base we were picked up from, with our questions as to why soon answered by soldiers on the ground.

Soldiers dropped us off at a strategic and critical location for the IDF. The spot was located in the middle of two northern Gazan cities, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, and used as a lookout point for the top half of the enclave and nearly all of southern Israel near the border. It’s a point of present and past, as it’s the backdrop of where the battalion fights with the memory of October 7th, overlooking the kibbutzim that were ransacked and massacred.

“We can see here Beit Hanoun, and if we look past, we can see Kfar Azza, and if we continue, we can see Nachal Oz,” said Commander T of the brigade, who is anonymous for safety and operational purposes. “That means every soldier at this point can see what he is protecting, he can see the communities, and he knows what he is protecting them from.”

Commander T explained that both Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya are not only “massive Hamas strongholds,” but IDF soldiers continue to find weapons, tunnels, and are still fighting face-to-face combat with terrorists on a daily basis.

“It’s more like an ambush. Sometimes there are terrorists just waiting for us. It’s like a game, like a chess game,” said a combat soldier for the brigade, who goes by Soldier A.

On Tuesday, the IDF says the Givati Brigade eliminated dozens of terrorists at close range and dismantled terrorist infrastructure in Beit Hanoun, just a few kilometers from where the group of journalists was standing.

The IDF says they also located weapons, underground tunnel routes, and a rocket launcher used by Hamas to fire at Israel.

“We need to find them and get to them so we can dismantle them,” said Commander T about the tunnels the battalion continues to help locate in northern Gaza. “These processes take time, but this is something that is happening every night. Every night we discover tunnels.”

When looking around the two cities in the north of Gaza, the smoky color grey is filtered on top of the destroyed buildings that stretch for kilometers. Devastation fills each neighborhood, with nearly no structure left in sight. The sight of plumes of smoke even on these decimated buildings exists, with soldiers explaining that even though the structures have been knocked down, Hamas terrorists still find a way to exist there. They also say the explosions are likely happening on underground terror infrastructure.

Describing the destruction around the area, Soldier A said, “Everything around here is demolished for a reason. Everything here is where all the terrorists hide their weapons, hide everything.”

From the point where journalists were allowed to be, the IDF said Palestinians in the enclave were pushed 2 kilometers south to avoid the ongoing operations and combat fighting. With an immense death toll on its own people and human suffering amongst the Palestinian population, the Hamas terror organization continues to hold 50 Israeli hostages in captivity, including 20 who are believed to be alive. The deadly and longest war in Israel’s history continues, as both sides ache and with IDF soldiers saying they aren’t going anywhere.

“After 600-plus days of fighting, we are here. Fighting from within the Gaza Strip, deep within the area of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, and we are here to stay,” said Commander T.