As the ongoing Israel-Hamas War has entered its seventh month, Palestinian territory has been devastated completely with an estimated 37 million tonnes of debris collected in the region, which contains around 8,00,000 tonnes of asbestos and other contaminants, the United Nations said in its report. It is estimated by the UN that Gaza's post-war re-construction would require around $40 billion, making it the biggest one since the aftermath of the World War II.
Much of the landscape in Gaza has been reduced to grey rubble and "72 percent of all residential buildings have been destroyed completely or partially," France 24 reported.
Assistant secretary-general Abdallah al-Dardari said in a briefing in Jodran's Amman: "The scale of the destruction is huge and unprecedented... this is a mission that the global community has not dealt with since World War II."
"The United Nations Development Programme's initial estimates for the reconstruction of... the Gaza Strip surpass $30 billion and could reach up to $40 billion," the UN assistant secretary-general said.
It is a difficult task due to the presence of large quantities of unexploded ordnance which has been triggering "more than 10 explosions every week" according to Gaza's Civil Defence agency.
UN mine action experts have also estimated that around 7,500 tonnes of unexploded ordnance could be “scattered” throughout Gaza which could take up to 14 years to clear.
The UN Mine Action Service, UNMAS, in a bid to mitigate the risk for civilians and aid teams in the meantime, has issued urgent appeals seeking assistance from the international community to remove explosive remnants of war.
The war began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 2023, resulting in the deaths of around 1,170 people, as per AFP's tally of Israeli official figures. Israel also estimated that around 129 captives seized by the militants at the time of the attack are still in Gaza, of which 34 of them have reportedly died, France 24 reported.
In retaliation of the October 7 attack, Israel launched offensives against Hamas, killing at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly children and woman, the report stated citing the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
Mediators of the war have long proposed a deal to halt the fighting for atleast 40 days and exchange Israeli hostages for potentially thhousands of Palestinians held prisoners in Israel.
Israel was still waiting for Hamas's formal response to the latest proposal, an Israeli official told France 24.
Suhail al-Hindi, a senior Hamas official stated that the group's aim remained to put an "end to this war"-- a goal that is at odds with the stated position of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
10,000 People Feared Buried Under Rubble In Gaza
Amidst the boiling situation which remains tensed, UN humanitarians say that more than 10,000 people are believed to be buried under the rubble in Gaza, which could take up to three years to retrieve the bodies using primitive tools they have on hand.
The rising temperatures will accelerate the decomposition of bodies, which will increase the risk of disease spreading, UN aid coordination office, OCHA said.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also said that the recovery of the dead bodies from the debris is a major challenge since there is a lack of excavators, bulldozers, and personnel.
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