Gaza – Together – A UN report confirmed that there is a hidden threat in Gaza that could kill Palestinians even after the ceasefire, which is live unexploded ordnance scattered throughout the Gaza Strip.
The report issued by the United Nations Mine Action Service stated that the basic rule adopted by explosives experts is that 10% of munitions do not explode on impact, which means that an estimated 7,500 tons of live munitions may be scattered throughout the Gaza Strip.
The head of the United Nations Mine Action Service in the Palestinian Territories, Mungo Birch, said that the intended live munitions include everything, stressing that “the most dangerous times are when people return to their homes.”
The danger of these weapons is that they will continue to kill and maim Palestinians even if the war ends and a ceasefire agreement is eventually approved, as the United Nations estimates that it may take 14 years to make Gaza safe from these bombs.
Birch confirmed that a lot of live ammunition is hidden unde
r 37 million tons of rubble, according to United Nations estimates, pointing out that the rubble in Gaza today is more than that in Ukraine, noting that the length of the front line in Ukraine is about 600 miles and Gaza 25 miles.
Birch noted that when a UN team inspected Khan Yunis, they said they found unexploded bombs, each weighing 1,000 pounds, at major intersections and inside schools.
Norwegian explosives expert Erik Tollefsen, of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said: ‘I was in Sarajevo in 1992, I was in Baghdad in 2003, I was in Kabul. But nothing can compare to what we saw in Gaza… The level of destruction is astonishing. It is truly terrifying.’ .
Tollefsen said that he found an unexploded artillery shell meters away from the door of the International Committee of the Red Cross office in Gaza City.
Tollefsen explained that to get rid of explosives, by detonating them in a controlled manner, we need more explosives, but explosives are not included in the list of materials that Isr
ael currently allows relief workers to carry into Gaza.
According to a number of weapons experts, some of the metal bombs that Israel uses to demolish what it says are buildings and tunnels used by Hamas are being confused with canned food containers as famine spreads throughout Gaza, due to their similarity.
Source: Maan News Agency
