LONDON, (PIC)
Handicap International (HI) has warned that unexploded ordnance is one of the biggest long-term problems in the war-battered Gaza Strip.
On the sidelines of its “Pyramides de chaussures (Pyramids of Shoes),” which will be held in Paris and Lyon on Saturday and Sunday, Handicap International affirmed that the presence of unexploded bombs across the Strip obstructs the delivery of humanitarian aid.
During the event, the NGO’s head of its operations in Gaza, Nicholas Orr, will give his testimony after he visited the coastal enclave on two missions.
“After nearly a year of war, bombs, artillery shells and other unexploded weapons could be found in the smallest places in Gaza — a situation that blocks the delivery of humanitarian aid and the establishment of health and medical infrastructure, Orr said in press remarks to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday.
Describing the situation in Gaza as “extremely dangerous,” Orr said that one of the biggest problems in Gaza today is access to damaged buildings as a result of the presence of unexploded ordnance.
While waiting for a ceasefire, HI officials go to the field and report, on a case-by-case basis, some of the ammunition found before marking them with red paint to warn civilians against them.
“Even if the war stopped tomorrow, these explosives would remain a persistent problem in Gaza,” the HI official affirmed, pointing out that Paris and London still make efforts to remove explosive remnants from the Second World War.
The presence of unexploded ordnance under the rubble of buildings in Gaza poses a real danger to civilians, who sometimes collect their belongings from the ruins of their homes.
