GAZA, (The Palestine Foundation Pakistan)
A new report by The Economist warns that Gaza may now contain the highest concentration of unexploded ordnance of any conflict zone in the world, posing an extreme long-term threat to civilians long after Israel’s bombardment halted.
The report says much of the danger lies beneath the rubble, where the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) dropped large numbers of bombs equipped with delayed-action fuses. These munitions can detonate days, weeks, or even months later inside collapsed buildings or underground, complicating removal efforts and endangering returning families.
According to UN data cited in the report, at least 53 people have been martyred and hundreds injured by unexploded bombs, though humanitarian groups believe the real toll is far higher.
One of the most tragic cases involved six-year-old twins, Yahya and Nabila al-Sharbasi, who suffered severe injuries after playing with what they thought was a toy, a bomb left behind in their destroyed neighborhood. Aid groups say such incidents highlight the enormous risk to children across Gaza’s densely populated residential areas.
UN estimates indicate more than 7,000 tons of unexploded ordnance are scattered across roughly 40 percent of Gaza’s neighborhoods, with the highest levels recorded in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and Jabalia.
Humanity & Inclusion, a leading relief organization, estimates that fully clearing these explosives could take 20 to 30 years, and potentially much longer without broad international engineering support. “Complete debris removal will never happen,” said Nick Orr, an explosive-removal expert with the group. “Much of it is buried deep. We will be finding these for generations.”
The magazine notes that even the UN’s mine-removal teams are still struggling in Mosul years after the war against the Islamic State group ended. But Gaza, it warns, was hit with far heavier bombardment, making clearance operations significantly more complex and dangerous.
Efforts to neutralize unexploded bombs face intense restrictions from Israel, which blocks the entry of expert teams and critical equipment, while also preventing Palestinian personnel from receiving professional training. Many essential tools are classified by Israel as “dual-use” and barred from entering the enclave.
As a result, bomb-clearance crews have been forced to improvise, sometimes filling old food bags with sand to create makeshift blast shields.
The report concludes that Gaza represents one of the world’s most formidable explosive-contamination challenges. Unlike Mosul and other war-damaged cities, residents cannot be evacuated during clearance because the enclave has no safe zone after Israel’s destruction of most civilian infrastructure.
