Top UN demining official outlines scale of devastation as Egypt officials fly into Israel in attempt to revive ceasefire talks

Israel’s war in Gaza has created 37m tonnes of debris, much of it laced with unexploded bombs, which could take more than a decade to remove, a top UN demining official said.

Nearly seven months into the war, there is an average 300kg of rubble a square metre of land in Gaza, Pehr Lodhammar, the former United Nationals Mine Action Service chief for Iraq, told a news conference.

“Based on the current [amount] of debris in Gaza, with 100 trucks we are talking about 14 years of work … to remove it,” he said. With the war continuing, it was impossible to estimate how long clearance might take at its end, he added.

Israel has been accused of “domicide” over the intensity of its bombing campaign in Gaza, which has reduced large swathes of the strip to ruins. Sixty-five per cent of the buildings destroyed in Gaza were residential, Lodhammar said.

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  • Flying SquidMEnglish
    23•24 days ago

    I’m guessing the beachfront rubble will be cleared first… can’t imagine why I might think that…

    • DdCno1
      -9•24 days ago

      There’s not even remotely a consensus within Israel for new settlements in the strip. I consider this highly unlikely. Yes, some extremist settlers and associated building companies are hungry for it, because of course they are, but this doesn’t mean things will be going their way.

      • Flying SquidMEnglish
        10•24 days ago

        Consensus doesn’t matter when a dictator is in charge.

      • @[email protected]English
        3•23 days ago

        About 40% are in favor of that. In a democratic system with more than two parties, that is usually enough to get things your way, if people chose that as an important aspect to vote for.

        Overall Israels population is still in strong support for more military actions and many are cheering on the blatant warcrimes their soldiers proudly post on social media. They still believe in genocide to be the solution and the logical consequence of genociding a people is to take their Lebensraum, hence “settle” in Gaza too.

      • @GarrulousBrevityEnglish
        2•23 days ago

        But it would make the rich richer, which makes it a good bet. I think the only thing that would stop private companies being allowed to develop beachfront property in the strip is if it were to turn out to be less profitable.

        But that’s true of all governments that aren’t really looking out for their people.