• UNRWA finds that the 23 million tons of debris in Gaza will take years to clear.
• UNICEF screenings show that over one hundred thousand young children are being malnourished.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Gaza Strip will take “years to clear”.
UNRWA stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter) the destruction of the Gaza Strip has “created nearly 23 million tons of debris”. In addition to the rubble, there are significant amounts of unexploded ordinance.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has stated that its partners who specialize in mine clearance were carrying out explosive threat assessments as well as educating the Gazan population on the dangers of unexploded mines and ordinance.
OCHA also noted that “response efforts have been hampered by restrictions on the import of humanitarian mine action supplies and authorization requirements for the deployment of specialized personnel.”
Meanwhile UNICEF has reported that one in two children in the northern Gaza Strip are suffering from acute malnutrition. The new child malnutrition figure of is double that of earlier reported figures of 15.6%.
Recently at least 23 children have reportedly died from malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza in the past few weeks.
UNICEF found that approximately 4.5% of children in shelters in the northern Gaza Strip suffered from severe wasting, otherwise known as severe acute malnutrition- the most dangerous and life-threatening type of malnutrition.
In Khan Younis, located in the central part of the strip, malnutrition screenings reported that 28% of children under the age of two had acute malnutrition, whereas over 10% were suffering from severe wasting.
