LThe UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday it had found unexploded 450 kg bombs in schools after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the town of Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
UN agencies carried out an “assessment mission” to Khan Younes, the major southern city, after the withdrawal of soldiers on April 7, UNRWA said in a statement.
They encountered “significant obstacles to operating safely due to the presence of munitions and unexploded ordnance, including 450 kg bombs inside schools and on the roads,” she said.
“Thousands of displaced people require a wide range of life-saving assistance, including health, water, hygiene and food,” UNRWA added. The UN said earlier in April that it would take “millions of dollars and several years to decontaminate the Gaza Strip of unexploded ordnance.”
“We assume that 10% of munitions do not work as expected,” said the head of the UN mine action service, Charles Birch. “We estimate that to start demining Gaza we need 45 million dollars (42 million euros). »
The Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel left 1,170 dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data. More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain held in Gaza, 34 of whom have died according to Israeli officials.
The Israeli offensive has killed 33,843 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.
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