Malak A Tantesh & Jason Burke
The Guardian / January 25, 2025
People planning return to neighbourhoods to search for loved ones and assess damage to homes this weekend
Gaza – Tens of thousands of people will risk death or injury this weekend from shells and bombs buried in rubble when they try to reach their ruined homes in areas of Gaza that have been inaccessible throughout much of the 15-month war, explosive disposal experts and aid officials have warned.
To comply with the ceasefire deal that came into effect last Sunday, Israel must allow movement from southern Gaza to the north – where destruction has been most intensive – through a major checkpoint on the Israeli-held Netzarim corridor.
Speaking from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Amjad Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGOs Network in Gaza, said: “There is likely to be massive movement over the next few days and people are also going to be trying to find their loved ones or whoever under the rubble. There are 50m tonnes of debris that contains unknown dangerous items. Unexploded ordnance is a really big issue. We are trying to coordinate efforts to raise awareness. We are telling children especially tell authorities if they find anything and stay away from it.”
Experts have described as “unprecedented” the challenges of clearing unexploded bombs and other munitions from Gaza, where more than two-thirds of buildings have been destroyed or damaged by one of the most intensive bombardments in modern times.
About 2 million Palestinians have been displaced during the war and are living in makeshift shelters and tented camps far from their former homes.
Many are from the north and will send family members to look for belongings, recover the remains of dead relatives from under the rubble or simply to find out what is left.
Suheila al-Harthani (65) said her son would try to return to their home in northern Gaza from the tented camp near Khan Younis where they have been living for months.
“I am afraid that our house will be destroyed … I haven’t lost anyone from my family, but I am terrified of losing someone or having them injured because of these explosives. I fear that one of these remnants will explode, and I could lose my life, or a hand, or a leg,’ she said.
Experts say there are other dangers in the rubble that now covers much of Gaza, including toxic industrial chemicals, decomposing human remains and asbestos. The extensive tunnel complex built by Hamas under the territory means that even the few remaining undamaged buildings are threatened with collapse.
“Anyone who goes near the debris is at risk … As soon as they can people will move back into all those [devastated areas] – that’s when we will see a spike of injuries and deaths,” said Gary Toombs of Humanity and Inclusion UK, an NGO working in Gaza that has sent out 8m text messages warning of the dangers of unexploded weapons.
“It is a pretty horrible picture. People will be looking for anything they can use to survive. They will prioritise their basic needs over safety,” he added.
The 15-month Israeli military offensive killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians. It followed a surprise Hamas attack into Israel on 7 October 2023 in which 1,200 people, also mostly civilian, were killed and 250 others taken hostage.
Greg Crowther, the director of programmes at the Mines Advisory Group, an NGO, described the challenges facing specialists in clearing explosives as “unique”.
“That level of destructing of a populated urban environment, with that level of bombing over a period of time, repeated bombing with a range of munition, overlaid with ground fighting, that is pretty unusual. I don’t think there is anything comparable in terms of duration and intensity and in that [kind of] location. It does make it pretty … unprecedented,” he said.
Hamas said people would be allowed to return on foot along Gaza’s congested coastal road, meaning a walk of several miles to the official northern area from where they could try to get rides in vehicles, which would be searched at checkpoints. People returning must not carry arms, Hamas said.
In Jabaliya, the biggest of the Gaza Strip’s eight refugee camps and the focus of Israel’s military efforts in the past three months, many people have returned to live inside their wrecked homes, setting small fires to try to warm their children.
Mohammed Badr, a father of 10, said: “They are talking about a truce, a ceasefire, and the delivery of aid. It has been three days since we came back, and we cannot find water to drink. We cannot find covers to keep our children warm. We depend on bonfires all night. We wish to have some firewood for the bonfire, we use plastic, which causes diseases.”
His wife, Umm Nidal, said she could not believe the total destruction.
“There is nothing left, you cannot walk in the streets. Houses collapsed on top of each other. You get lost, you don’t know if this is your home or not,” she said. “The smell of dead bodies [is] in the streets.”
Experts say unexploded ordnance will pose a serious obstacle to any reconstruction in Gaza, as well as a lethal hazard, potentially further slowing efforts that may already take decades. Six months ago, the UN said a fleet of more than 100 lorries would take 15 years to clear Gaza of rubble, in an operation costing between $500m (£400m) and $600m.
“It’s going to be the most complicated clearance task I’ve seen in 30 years of explosive ordnance disposal experience,” Toombs said.
Malak A Tantesh is a reporter based in Gaza
Jason Burke is the International security correspondent of The Guardian