War between Israel and Hamas: 37 million tons of garbage will be cleared in the Gaza Strip

“We estimate that in the Gaza Strip, which was very densely populated and urbanized before the war, there are 37 million tons of garbage, or about 300 kilograms of garbage per square meter,” UNMAS spokesman Per Lodhammar explained on Friday. , the UN agency responsible for mine action. The Palestinian enclave has been subject to intense shelling and heavy fighting since Israel began its war against Hamas.

If we assume that about a hundred trucks will be involved, then the clearing “will take 14 years,” he emphasized during a regular UN press briefing in Geneva. He insisted that unexploded ordnance was mixed with debris, making the task much more difficult.

Per Lodhammar estimates that “at least 10%” of the munitions fired during the conflict do not explode and therefore pose a long-term threat to the population and teams responsible for searching the rubble to recover the bodies of victims, as well as to the workers responsible for this . to remove. He described a recent meeting in Amman with representatives of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and non-governmental organizations on the best way to deal with this waste mixed with explosives.

It was during this meeting that participants attempted to quantify the scale of the task based on their knowledge of the field, as well as satellite imagery or their experience in other battle-torn areas.

“65% of destroyed buildings are residential buildings”

“This is a rough estimate,” insisted Per Lodhammar. It is about “preparing for what may eventually happen and for intervention in the Gaza Strip.” The head of UNMAS speaks from experience. He has already dealt with a similar problem in Iraq, “but on a smaller scale.” According to him, in particular, he worked in Mosul, where he had to clear 7 million tons of garbage and rubble. He said “65% of the destroyed buildings were residential buildings” in the narrow Palestinian territory.

Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli figures. In response, Israel vowed to destroy the Palestinian Islamist movement, which has held power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, and launched an offensive that has so far killed 34,356 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.