Two months after Israeli troops invaded Rafah, the city has transformed into a ghost town with most of its population displaced. Israeli military claims significant progress against Hamas but the humanitarian crisis worsens. Aid delivery remains frozen, putting lives at risk as Gaza's fuel supplies dwindle dangerously.

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 claims nearing defeat of Hamas forces in Rafah — identified earlier this year as the militant group's last stronghold in Gaza.

The Israeli military invited reporters into Rafah on Wednesday, marking the first time international media visited Gaza's southernmost city since it was invaded on May 6. Israel has forbidden international journalists from entering Gaza independently since the Hamas attack on October 7 that ignited the war.

Before invading Rafah, Israel stated that Hamas' four remaining battalions had retreated there, an area of about 25 square miles (65 square kilometers) bordering Egypt. Israel reports hundreds of militants killed in its Rafah offensive, with scores of women and children also dying from Israeli airstrikes and ground operations.

(Disclaimer: With inputs from agencies.)