Israel’s war in Gaza has created 37m tonnes of debris, much of it laced with unexploded bombs, which could take more than a decade to remove, a top UN demining official said.
Nearly seven months into the war, there is an average 300kg of rubble a square metre of land in Gaza, Pehr Lodhammar, the former United Nationals Mine Action Service chief for Iraq, told a news conference.
“Based on the current [amount] of debris in Gaza, with 100 trucks we are talking about 14 years of work … to remove it,” he said. With the war continuing, it was impossible to estimate how long clearance might take at its end, he added.
Israel has been accused of “domicide” over the intensity of its bombing campaign in Gaza, which has reduced large swathes of the strip to ruins. Sixty-five per cent of the buildings destroyed in Gaza were residential, Lodhammar said.
I’m guessing the beachfront rubble will be cleared first… can’t imagine why I might think that…
I’d put money on occupation until a Gazan puppet government is installed, with annexation being explored further if that doesn’t go well.
Maybe, but there’s also plenty of talk about beachfront property for Israelis.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68650815
And the Israelis in that article aren’t the only ones excited at the prospect.
There’s not even remotely a consensus within Israel for new settlements in the strip. I consider this highly unlikely. Yes, some extremist settlers and associated building companies are hungry for it, because of course they are, but this doesn’t mean things will be going their way.
Consensus doesn’t matter when a dictator is in charge.
Israel isn’t a dictatorship. Yes, I know that Netanyahu is trying to erode democracy, but he hasn’t been successful.
Isn’t it? Netanayahu’s former best friend might disagree there… https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-798324
About 40% are in favor of that. In a democratic system with more than two parties, that is usually enough to get things your way, if people chose that as an important aspect to vote for.
Overall Israels population is still in strong support for more military actions and many are cheering on the blatant warcrimes their soldiers proudly post on social media. They still believe in genocide to be the solution and the logical consequence of genociding a people is to take their Lebensraum, hence “settle” in Gaza too.
But it would make the rich richer, which makes it a good bet. I think the only thing that would stop private companies being allowed to develop beachfront property in the strip is if it were to turn out to be less profitable.
But that’s true of all governments that aren’t really looking out for their people.
Oh goodie. Western companies can come in and put the populace in debt for the cleanup.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Nearly seven months into the war, there is an average 300kg of rubble a square metre of land in Gaza, Pehr Lodhammar, the former United Nationals Mine Action Service chief for Iraq, told a news conference.
In Israel, an Egyptian delegation led by the country’s top intelligence official, Abbas Kamel, arrived in an attempt to revive stalled talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Egyptian efforts to halt the war through negotiations have been paired with stark warnings against a planned Israeli assault on Rafah, the only place in Gaza where Israel has not sent in ground troops.
The border town shelters more than half of Gaza’s population, most displaced by fighting elsewhere, and at a time of looming famine it is also the main entry point for humanitarian aid into the strip.
Her father, Shukri, and three-year-old sister, Malak, were killed immediately and her mother, Sabreen al Sakani, died in hospital soon after her daughter was delivered by caesarean section.
There has been growing international pressure for a deal, with Hamas and Israel accusing each other of intransigence as the war continues and the toll from weapons, hunger and lack of medical care rises.
The original article contains 773 words, the summary contains 196 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Why use “m” for “million”? Should be M, or maybe use megatonnes? Or just write it out, even better. 37 million tonnes. Makes more of an impact.
