cleaning up 37 million tons of waste could take up to 14 years

A senior official of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), Pehr Lodhammar, said it would take about 14 years to clear the vast amount of rubble, including unexploded ordnance, left by the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The war left about 37 million tons of debris in the densely populated Palestinian enclave, the UN official added, noting that while it is impossible to determine the exact number of unexploded ordnance found in the Gaza Strip, removing the debris, including from destroyed buildings, could take 14 years. under certain conditions.

750,000 working days and 100 trucks

This includes the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment, which has turned most of the narrow coastal enclave into a field of rubble, with most civilians homeless, hungry and at risk of disease.

“And the figure was 300 kilograms per square meter of surface with debris. One figure I can give you is that the estimate is based on the current number of tons of waste in Gaza.” said Pehr Lodhammar.

According to these projections and based on the operation of 100 trucks, the operation could last at least 14 years. “So this figure has been retained. 14 years of waste removal with approximately 750,000 man-days, one person’s man-days of waste removal,” he argued, noting that therefore “significant figures regarding remains”.

About 300 kilograms of waste per square meter

As if to complicate the mission, he pointed out that it is known “that generally there is a failure rate of at least 10% of ground munitions that are fired and do not function”.

“What we do know is that we estimate the amount of waste to be 37 million tons, which is approximately 300 kilograms of waste per square meter. 65% of destroyed buildings are residential buildings”Lodhammar further indicated.

The teams are already preparing. On this topic, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Mine Action Service organized a workshop in Amman (Jordan) two weeks ago on the management of mine explosion risks and the elimination of explosion hazards in rubble, focusing on They tread. “We organized this workshop with the NGO community to prepare for a possible intervention in Gaza,” he clarified.