Enormous amounts of unexploded ordnance across the Gaza Strip will threaten Palestinians for years to come, even if the Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds up, as it largely has for roughly a month now.
The term “unexploded ordnance,” often called UXO, refers to weapons such as artillery shells, grenades, and bombs that failed to detonate as normal, but can still be triggered and thus pose a risk to people long after a conflict ends.
“Given the amount of ammunitions used in this conflict, as in any conflict, you have a significant amount [of unexploded ordnance],” Julien Lerisson, the International Red Cross’s Head of Delegation to Israel and the Occupied Territories, told the Washington Examiner. “I cannot tell you which one belongs to who, but it’s obvious that there are massive unexploded ordinances.”
The United Nations Mine Action Service has estimated that there are more than 8,200 tons of unexploded ordnance that it says will take more than a decade to fully clear and dispose of.
There is immense damage across Gaza’s infrastructure after two years of intense war. UNMAS estimates that up to 60 million tons of debris need to be cleared throughout the enclave, Luke Irving, head of UNMAS, told a U.N. briefing last month, according to the Associated Press. Unexploded ordnance could be under the rubble of any destroyed building or house. Clearing the rubble in the hopes of rebuilding people’s homes and buildings is a dangerous proposition when exploded ordnance could be under any flattened structure.
Children are often at risk of unintentionally detonating an explosive due to their unfamiliarity and curiosity, which can result in significant, sometimes fatal injuries.
“I think the most important thing for people to know here is that even after bombs stopped falling, the effects of armed conflict and the effects of unexploded ordnance specifically can be solved for many years or even decades to come,” John Ramming Chappell, an adviser for the Center for Civilians in Conflict, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s one of the most significant barriers to recovery for communities, just an incredibly difficult endeavor.”
Lerisson estimated that there are the bodies of 9,000-10,000 Palestinians underneath rubble, but trying to recover the bodies includes the risk associated with unknowingly coming across an unexploded ordnance.
“It will take a lot of resources and work” to find and properly dispose of UXOs to ensure civilians do not get harmed, he continued. “I would go as far as saying that I’m not sure the Israeli Defense Forces have the weapon contamination and clearance capability to clear everything. So it will take a lot of organization and work to decommission, to dispose of all those UXOs, and making sure that people can go back safely and people can resume living there.”
The United Kingdom announced last week that it would donate 4 million euros to UNMAS to help clear the unexploded munitions in Gaza. The announcement said additional experts, equipment, and education would be provided later on as well.
“UNMAS is pulling out all the stops to surge explosive ordnance response and risk education in Gaza to address the threat of unexploded ordnance that threatens the lives of the Palestinian who are striving to find food and return to their homes,” said the chief of design, operational support and oversight of UNMAS, Richard Boulter. “UNMAS is working closely with U.N. and its humanitarian partners laboring to deliver critical aid, and to clean up to start rebuilding communities and neighborhoods.“
A State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that unexploded ordnance threaten “to delay economic recovery and redevelopment efforts,” and noted it “could also provide Hamas or other terrorist groups a source of explosive material to use in attacks.”
“The U.S. is exploring ways to address these threats and encourages the international community to invest in this critical work,” the spokesperson added.
The IDF declined to comment about the efforts to dispose of UXO safely.
“The role of U.S. military personnel in the [Civil-Military Coordination Center] is to monitor implementation of the ceasefire and to facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical, and security assistance into Gaza from multiple international counterparts, including partner nations, [nongovernmental organizations], and UN agencies,” a U.S. defense official told the Washington Examiner. “The CMCC supports stabilization efforts with transportation, planning, security, logistics, and engineering expertise.”
There are also environmental concerns related to UXO, including metal poisoning.
“Metals poisoning is one thing that’s documented as often being a long-term consequence of unexploded ordinance,” Chappell said. “Also, to say that, like this type of contamination of unexploded ordnance is felt in every sector because you have a field that cannot be planted because of fear of there being unexploded bombs, and you have streets or neighborhoods that become inaccessible, and therefore economic life is unable to return to some form of normalcy.”
There are organizations operating inside Gaza trying to educate locals about the dangers posed by unexploded ordnance and how to identify them. One of them is Mines Advisory Group; its experts documented “thousands” of UXOs during the previous two temporary ceasefires.
“We can assume that around 10% of the ammunition and bombs used did not explode and continue to pose a danger,” Greg Crowther, Director of Programmes for MAG, told the Washington Examiner. “They could be buried deep underground, lying on the surface, or lodged in the rubble and debris. It will require careful prioritisation, which can only be done in partnership with humanitarian agencies, local communities, and whichever body has governance authority over the area. But even under ideal conditions, it will take years to achieve a thorough clearance of unexploded ordnance.”
As a part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas was required to hand over the 20 remaining living hostages, which it did, and the bodies of 28 others. Hamas has handed over 21 of the bodies so far, but the unexploded ordnance also affects the recovery efforts.
The ceasefire that ended the devastating conflict commenced about a month ago and, despite brief violations, it has largely held. It’s still unclear how Israel and Hamas will proceed long-term, given that the U.S.-designated terrorist group has still not agreed to lay down its arms and not have a role in governing Gaza long-term.
Another complicating factor of recovering and safely disposing of unexploded ordnance in Gaza is the tight restrictions Israel places on the goods that are allowed to enter the enclave, and the IDF has clamped down even harder since the war began.
The threat of unexploded ordnance long predates the current conflict in the Middle East.
The U.S. military dropped millions of tons of bombs on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War, while the Vietnamese government estimates that 300,000 tons of unexploded ordnance remain embedded in the countryside. The Vietnamese government has tallied nearly 40,000 deaths from landmine or unexploded ordnance detonations since the end of the war in 1975.
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Between 1993 and 2020, the U.S. government invested more than $166 million in Vietnamese programs focusing on clearing mines and UXO as well as providing explosive ordnance risk education, the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam said in a 2021 statement.
“We’re continuing our joint efforts to clear unexploded ordnance,” Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in 2023 during a visit to the Southeast Asian country, roughly 50 years after the conclusion of the war, demonstrating how long it takes to safely locate, remove, and dispose of all unexploded ordnance.
