Israel’s war in Gaza has created 37m tonnes of debris, much of it laced with unexploded bombs, which could take more than a decade to remove, a top UN demining official said.
Nearly seven months into the war, there is an average 300kg of rubble a square metre of land in Gaza, Pehr Lodhammar, the former United Nationals Mine Action Service chief for Iraq, told a news conference.
“Based on the current amount of debris in Gaza, with 100 trucks we are talking about 14 years of work … to remove it,” he said. With the war continuing, it was impossible to estimate how long clearance might take at its end, he added.
Israel has been accused of “domicide” over the intensity of its bombing campaign in Gaza, which has reduced large swathes of the strip to ruins. Sixty-five per cent of the buildings destroyed in Gaza were residential, Lodhammar said.
Clearing and rebuilding them will be slow and dangerous work because of the threat from shells, missiles or other weapons buried in collapsed or damaged buildings. On average about 10 of weapons failed to detonate when they were fired, Lodhammar said, and had to be removed by demining teams.