GENEVA: Gaza stands filled with more debris and rubble than Ukraine, the UN stated on Wednesday. The mammoth task of clearing it has been made all the more costly and dangerous in the face of the sheer amount of asbestos and unexploded ordnance.

Six months into the Israeli aggression, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has estimated the amount of debris in the Gaza Strip, at 37 million tonnes in mid-April, or 300 kilogrammes per square metre.

“Gaza has more rubble than Ukraine, and to put that in perspective, the Ukrainian front line is 600 miles (nearly 1,000 kilometres) long, and Gaza is 25 miles (40 km) long,” said the head of the UNMAS programme in the Palestinian territories, Mungo Birch. However, the UNMAS says the volume of rubble is not the only problem.

“This rubble is likely heavily contaminated with UXO (unexploded ordnance) but its clearance will be further complicated by other hazards in the rubble” Birch told journalists in Geneva.

Experts fear sheer amount of asbestos and unexploded ordnance in the rubble as 10 to 15pc of munitions fired do not explode on impact

“There’s estimated to be over 800,000 tonnes of asbestos, for instance, alone in the Gaza rubble.” The carcinogenic mineral used in construction requires special precautions when handling. It is generally estimated that 10 to 15 per cent of the munitions fired do not explode on impact and therefore manifest a lasting danger for civilian populations.

New approaches needed

Birch stated he is optimistic that the UNMAS, which works to mitigate the threats posed by all types of explosive ordnance, will become the coordinating body for mine action in Gaza.

It has secured $5 million worth of funding but requires a further $40 million to continue its efforts in Gaza over the next 12 months. “The sector as a whole will need hundreds of millions of US dollars over multiple years in order to make Gaza safe again for the population” Birch added.

A coming together of the main stakeholders in these future operations was held two weeks ago in Amman, under the leadership of the United Nations Development Programme.

The UNDP is piloting the clearance plan and participants went through the likely means and methods required, for when the time eventually comes. “Because the level of rubble is so unprecedented, it’s going to take new thinking on how we proceed with the clearance” said Birch.

UNMAS says that 65pc of the buildings decimated in Gaza were residential, and it would take 100 trucks 14 years to clear the rubble so far. Birch stated clearance operations are still in the planning phase and require a significant amount of heavy installations.

“The methodology on how we’re going to do that, it’s still something that’s being discussed because of the sheer scale” he said.

Northern Gaza fears

A precise assessment for Gaza remains unachievable due to the violence from ongoing fighting, bombings and difficulties of access.

“Until we’ve been able to get access to the north and can conduct an assessment we’re not certain about the level of contamination” said Birch. “Anecdotal stories suggest that it’s exceptionally heavy in northern Gaza.

Our teams have encountered unexploded ordnance on their missions to the north, and we believe that it will be a sizeable huge issue going forward.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2024