UN estimates nearly 23mn tonnes of debris spread across Gaza Strip due to war

This rubble – along with unexploded munitions – will take years to clear, estimates the UN.

While the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is working with mine action partners to assess the threat of unexploded ordnance in the enclave, “response efforts have been hampered by restrictions on the import of humanitarian mine action supplies and authorization requirements on the deployment of specialized personnel”.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

At least 31,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and 73,500 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.