According to the UN development agency UNDP, Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip have caused the worst destruction in a region since World War II. The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip could take at least until 2040.
“We haven’t seen anything like this since 1945 – since World War II. This intensity in such a short time and the sheer scale of the destruction,” local UNDP director Abdallah al-Dardari said on Thursday.
The destruction in the Gaza Strip is greater than in Ukraine: seven months after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the United Nations estimates the amount of rubble at 37 million tons. “There is more rubble in the Gaza Strip than in Ukraine,” Mungo Birch, head of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday. The Gaza Strip is only 40 kilometers long and the front in Ukraine is almost 1,000 kilometers long.
Asbestos and unexploded bombs everywhere
But the enormous amount of rubble is not the only problem: according to UNMAS, there are many unexploded bombs under the rubble. “Unexploded ordnance makes cleanup difficult,” Birch said. General estimates indicate that 10 to 15 percent of projectiles fired during combat fail to explode, posing a long-term threat to civilians.
Asbestos also makes cleanup more complicated. “We estimate there is more than 800,000 tons of asbestos in the rubble,” Birch said. The previously widely used mineral fiber is carcinogenic and special precautions are required when handling it.
Mine clearance services need additional resources
The UN mine clearance service hopes to be able to defuse the explosives in the Gaza Strip with its own teams. “But we’re still in the planning stages,” Birch said. UNMAS has already received five million dollars (4.7 million euros) for the defusing. “But to continue the work over the next 12 months, we need an additional $40 million.”
The key players met two weeks ago in the Jordanian capital Amman to plan how to free the Gaza Strip from the huge mountains of rubble. The UN Development Program (UNDP) is coordinating the evacuation. “The problem is that the amount of debris is unprecedented. We will have to come up with new ideas about how we approach deportation,” Birch said. According to UNMAS, 65 percent of the destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip are residential buildings. It would take 100 trucks and 14 years to clear all the rubble.
Much remains in the dark
The fighting is still ongoing and it is difficult for UN staff to get an accurate picture of the extent of the destruction and the number of unexploded bombs in the Gaza Strip. “Anecdotal reports suggest it is particularly bad in the north,” Birch said. “This will remain a major problem for a long time.”
Source: Krone
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