While the aerial fighting may have stopped in Gaza, danger remains for Palestinians returning to parts of the war-torn territory due to unexploded bombs on the ground.
They blend into the mounds of rubble and destruction.
Efforts are underway in Gaza to find and remove these bombs, starting in the southern city of Rafah – which has seen some of the heaviest fighting in the 15-month-long war between Israel and Hamas. But mine advisory groups say to deal with the large amount of unexploded ordnance (UXO) left behind, a broader response is crucial.
For the Gazans, there is an additional fear of death despite the ceasefire that has stopped air and ground insults.
“We fear for the youth, for our families,” Raed Al-Akka, a 27-year-old father of three from Rafah, told CBC News
“I’m afraid to leave the house and find a rocket exploding on me or my wife or my children, or in the street on my neighbors … anywhere.”
While Israel-hama primi fire appears to be contained in Gaza, danger remains for the Palestinians, as unexploded ordnance appears to be widespread in areas throughout the war-torn enclave. Mohammed Muqdad, head of the explosives department at RAFAH, says teams work daily to remove what they can with minimal equipment.
With access to Gaza still limited, especially in the first phase Israel-Hamas ceasefireit is challenging to assess the likely extent of explosives contamination at this stage, said Greg Crowther, program director with the Mines Advisory Group (MAG).
“Clearly there will be a significant threat to life and a long-term obstacle to rebuilding efforts,” Crowther said in an email to CBC News on Friday.
‘Dangerous environment’
For now, their focus is on risk education in the territory.
MAG, which helped clean up Gaza after the conflict in 2008 and 2009, partnered with Future Society’s Save Youth and deployed 20 risk education teams across Gaza to teach communities how to stay safe around explosive hazards through recognition, avoidance and reporting possible dangers. They have scheduled sessions for over 160,000 people since launching in September 2024.
Crowther said that because Gaza is densely populated and highly urbanised, the use of explosive weapons had a “particularly devastating effect”.
“Besides what is visible, you also have to consider objects that have not managed to detonate so far but remain hidden, putting people at risk – it creates a dangerous environment, especially as people return to their home site and dig through the rubble,” he said. is he
The United Nations Action Agency (UNMA) earlier warned of explosive orders that had become “increasingly widespread”, across the tiny coastal enclave that is under heavy bombardment by Israel.
It said explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams encountered aerial bombs, mortars, rockets, missiles of all calibers, grenades and improvised explosive devices.
Deeply buried bombs common in Gaza
In Gaza, specifically, buried bombs are located under or within infrastructure and under rubble.
“As families return to their homes, we are rapidly increasing the ability to mitigate the risk of an explosive order to civilians and humanitarians,” UNMAS said in a post on Monday.
As more Palestinians return to different parts of the Gaza Strip after a cease-fire that began on Sunday, a UN damage assessment released this month found that clearing the more than 50 million tons of rubble left behind by Israel’s bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to 1.2 dollars to 1.2 billion us dollars.
Mohammed Muqdad, head of Rafah’s explosives department, said his teams had begun locating and removing weapons in the first phase of the ceasefire.
“Rafah was particularly affected, most of that area was destroyed,” Muqdad told CBC News on Wednesday.
“We’ve been dealing with dozens of remaining unexploded ordnance that we’re transporting to safe areas for eventual disposal.”
Children are taught to recognize weapons
So far, teams have completed more than 120 UXO removal calls, working every day since Sunday.
“The team continues to work to further remove other orders from residential areas,” he said. “We are working as hard as we can to lift and remove [them]. “
Muqdad said teams have removed bombs used in aircraft, such as MK, GBU 39, cannon and tank bombs, but require special technical equipment to clear the much larger explosives.
Authorities have asked residents to stay away from certain dangerous areas believed to have large numbers of these devices.
Some commands, such as the smaller explosives ejected from cluster munitions, may not initially appear to be common threats to children, which can be a danger.
Crowther said the children also take part in risk education sessions to make them aware of the types of weapons used in war.
“It is especially important to share this information with them, as their natural curiosity can put them at greater risk of injury if they come across explosive weapons and simply assume they are toys,” he said.
Al-Akka called in experts to remove the explosives.
“So we can take our freedom and go to our homes, remove the rubble and sit in our homes,” Al-Akka said.
“We have seen enough martyrs and bloodshed in war.”
Limited coordination, capability in Gaza
Crowther said explosive threat assessments and survey activities in addition to technical equipment must be expanded to enable a broader humanitarian response.
“Currently there is limited coordination and ability to carry out these activities, both in terms of the technical equipment required and the number of qualified personnel currently in Gaza,” Crowther said.
Israel has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in the 15-month war, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Due to the chaos of the war, verifying the exact number of casualties was challenging and subject to surveillance.
The coastal enclave was largely demolished by the Israeli military following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. That attack killed 1,200 people with about 250 hostages taken to Gaza, according to Israeli officials. About 94 Israelis and foreigners are still being held in Gaza. It is unclear how many are alive.
The Palestinian Civil Defense said it was searching for around 10,000 bodies believed to remain under the rubble.
A peer-reviewed study published in Lancet January 9 suggests that the official numbers of deaths in Gaza may be significantly underestimated. On June 30, 2024, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported 37,877 deaths; The study estimated that the number was probably around 64,200 by that date.
