UN: Gaza is more destroyed than Ukraine, huge investment is needed to clean up the ruins

2024-05-01 17:36:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

UN: Gaza is more destroyed than Ukraine, huge investment is needed to clean up

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Gaza is covered in more debris and rubble than Ukraine, the United Nations (UN) said on May 1. According to the UN, cleaning up this area will be expensive and dangerous due to the large amount of asbestos and unexploded ordnance.

Six months after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas - the Palestinian group declared a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union - the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimated that there were 37 million tons of waste in the Gaza Strip between of April, or 300 kilograms per square meter.

"Gaza has more rubble than Ukraine, and to put that in perspective, the Ukrainian front line is 600 miles (roughly 1,000 kilometers) long and Gaza's is 25 miles (40 kilometers)," said Mungo Birch, head of the program. UNMAS. in the Palestinian territories.

But the volume of rubble is not the only problem, UNMAS said.

"This wreckage is likely to be heavily contaminated with UXO (unexploded ordnance), but its cleanup will be further complicated by other hazards in the wreckage," Birch told reporters in Geneva.

"It is estimated that there are over 800,000 tons of asbestos, for example, in the ruins of Gaza alone," he added. Asbestos is a cancer-causing mineral used in construction. Special precautions are required for handling this material.

It is generally estimated that 10 to 15 percent of munitions fired do not explode and therefore represent a major risk to the civilian population.

Birch said he hoped UNMAS, which works to mitigate threats posed by all types of explosive devices, would become the coordinating body for mine action in Gaza.

The agency has secured $5 million in funding, but needs another $40 million to continue its work in Gaza over the next 12 months.

However, "the sector as a whole will need hundreds of millions of US dollars over many years to make Gaza safe for the population again," Birch added.

A meeting of the main actors in these future operations was held two weeks ago in Amman, under the leadership of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

UNDP is piloting the cleanup plan and participants discussed possible tools and methods that may be required when the time comes.

"Because the level of debris is so unprecedented, it's going to take some rethinking of how we're going to proceed with the cleanup," Birch said.

UNMAS has said that 65 percent of the buildings destroyed so far in Gaza are residential buildings, and 100 trucks would be needed to clear their rubble in 14 years. However, an accurate assessment of Gaza remains impossible due to fighting, bombing and access difficulties.

"Until we've been able to access the north and do an assessment, we're not sure of the level of contamination," Birch said.

The Gaza war began after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, which left 1,170 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report of official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,568 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory./ Rel