Millions of tons of rubble in Gaza – clearing it could take years

 

Malin Carlsson/TT

 

Published 07.26

         

       A tent camp in Gaza City photographed in late September. Photo: Jehad Alshrafi/AP/TT

Sand-colored mounds, the remains of houses, and what used to be roads.

New satellite images of the Gaza Strip reveal the devastation nearly three years after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out. The UN estimates the total volume of rubble and debris at 61 million tons—a quantity that could take many years to clear.

The contrast is stark. Images from before October 2023 show Gaza looking like any other community, with buildings of varying heights, distinct roads, and green spaces. In contrast, the new satellite images from Google Maps—dated June of this year, according to the company—show what appear to be scattered piles of rubble.

UN estimates suggest it will take between seven and ten years to clear away all the debris and rubble, provided the necessary resources are deployed. This makes the impending cleanup operation in the territory one of the largest in modern history.

Challenging conditions

"The estimate is that the total amount of rubble in Gaza stands at 61 million tons. That is roughly 20 times the amount of rubble generated in all wars worldwide over the past 18 years," Jaco Cilliers, the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Special Representative for the Palestinian territories, told *The Guardian*. The actual clearance work is being carried out under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions, with unexploded bombs buried beneath the rubble.

"It feels like holding a spoon and trying to empty the ocean," UN engineer Ahmed Alya, who is working to clear rubble in the Gaza Strip, told *The Guardian*.

"The tip of an iceberg"

One aspect further complicating the clearance work is the presence of bodies. As recently as last week, 105 bodies were found buried in the debris, according to the Hamas-controlled civil defense in Gaza. Palestinian authorities estimate that more than 10,000 dead remain beneath the rubble.

"The remains found so far could be the tip of an iceberg," said Thameen al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN human rights office (OHCHR), in mid-September.

The war between Israel and Hamas broke out after Hamas and other Islamist extremist groups launched an attack on a music festival and kibbutzim in Israel on October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,200 people were killed in the attack—most of them civilians—and more than 200 people were taken hostage.

According to Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza, over 73,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks. 

Facts

The Gaza War

More than 73,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed since the start of the war, which followed the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas—an organization designated as a terrorist group. These figures come from health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza and are frequently cited by UN agencies and other international organizations. A large proportion of the fatalities are women and children.

In 2024, UNICEF estimated that one million children in the area were in need of psychological and psychosocial support.

Before the war, Gaza’s population stood at 2.1 million people. According to the UN, around 90 percent of them have been displaced within the territory.

Israel’s intense bombardment has resulted in the total or partial destruction of a large number of the area's hospitals and schools. The Israeli blockade imposed in the spring has also led to famine in Gaza.

During Hamas’s large-scale attack on October 7, 2023, approximately 1,200 people were killed in Israel, the majority of whom were unarmed civilians. In addition, nearly 250 people were taken hostage, including children.

Sources: OCHA, UNICEF, and news agencies.