News Center- The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimated the amount of debris in the Gaza Strip at 37 million tonnes in mid-April, 300 kilograms per square metre. Gaza is filled with more debris and rubble than Ukraine, the UN said Wednesday.

‘Gaza has more rubble than Ukraine’

“Gaza has more rubble than Ukraine, and to put that in perspective, the Ukrainian front line is 600 miles (nearly 1,000 kilometres) long, and Gaza is 25 miles (40 km) long,” said Mungo Birch, head of the UNMAS programme in the Palestinian territories.

But the volume of rubble is not the only problem, said UNMAS. “There's estimated to be over 800,000 tonnes of asbestos, for instance, alone in the Gaza rubble,” Mungo Birch told journalists in Geneva. “This rubble is likely heavily contaminated with UXO (unexploded ordnance), but its clearance will be further complicated by other hazards in the rubble.”

Hundreds of millions of US dollars needed

The UNMAS has secured $5 million of funding but needs a further $40 million to continue its work in Gaza over the next 12 months.

“However, the sector as a whole will need hundreds of millions of US dollars over multiple years in order to make Gaza safe again for the population”, Mungo Birch added.