LONDON (Palestine Foundation Information Center) According to the UN Mine Action Service, one in 10 bombs fired by the Israeli occupation army on the Gaza Strip did not explode.
Reuters quoted the UN Human Rights Office as saying that the removal of unexploded bombs in the Gaza Strip has not commenced due to Israeli restrictions as well as the resumption of the war on March 18 after the collapse of the ceasefire agreement.
International efforts to remove unexploded bombs in Gaza during periods of calm have been hampered by Israeli occupation authorities, aid officials said.
At least 23 people have been killed and 162 injured by unexploded ordnance since the start of the war in Gaza, according to UN data.
By October 2024, the Israeli occupation army stated that it had already carried out more than 40,000 air strikes on Gaza. The UN Mine Action Service estimates that between one in 10 and one in 20 bombs fired on Gaza have failed to explode, with US-made bombs among those used by Israel.
Between March and July of last year, the occupation authorities rejected requests to import more than 20 types of mine clearance equipment, representing a total of more than 2,000 items, from binoculars to armored vehicles to detonation cables, according to a document prepared by two humanitarian demining organizations.
Under the 1907 Hague Convention, Israel is obligated as an “occupying power” to remove or assist in the removal of remnants of war that endanger the lives of civilians, according to the UN Human Rights Office and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The ICRC defines unexploded ordnance as remnants of war from weapons that did not explode when activated and were left behind following an armed conflict, such as bombs, rockets, artillery shells and grenades. These munitions kill and injure thousands of people around the world every year.
In addition to time and cost, other challenges lie in how to extract these munitions in a safe manner. According to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), unexploded bombs are underground. In the case of Gaza, they are hidden under tons of rubble, which the UN estimates at 50 million tons.
