Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defence in the Gaza Strip, warned that Palestinians returning to their neighbourhoods and homes in Gaza City face a double security and humanitarian disaster. He explained that remnants of war, in the form of unexploded ordnance, are scattered among the rubble and crumbling homes are thus turned into death traps.

In exclusive comments to the Canary, Basal said that Gaza City is suffering the effects of a systematic policy of destruction adopted by the Israeli occupation during its aggression, adding:

Palestinians are not returning to their homes, but to ruins, to enormous rubble, and to areas unfit for habitation or life.

On Friday, the ceasefire agreement in Gaza came into effect and the occupation forces began a gradual withdrawal from some residential areas. That has allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the centre of the Gaza Strip to return to their neighbourhoods, more than 80% of which have been destroyed.

Urgent demands for Gaza

The Civil Defence spokesperson also confirmed that field teams had found quantities of rockets, shells, and explosive materials that had not exploded during the attacks. This is especially the case in densely populated residential areas. He pointed out that these materials posed an imminent danger to the lives of residents, especially children and families who had been forced to return to the remains of their homes due to lack of shelter.

He said:

Residential neighbourhoods have been turned into abandoned battlefields, and every stone in them may conceal a deadly danger. These materials are still active and could explode at any moment.

Basal called for the international community to intervene and exert immediate pressure on the occupying authorities to hand over maps and accurate information on the locations of unexploded ordnance used in the bombing. He pointed out that civil defence teams are working with very limited resources, without specialised tools or adequate technical support, which increases the difficulty and danger of the task for the crews.

Basal described the scene in Gaza City as ‘unprecedented in terms of the scale of destruction,’ noting that hundreds of residential buildings had been reduced to rubble and the entire infrastructure had been damaged, including water and electricity networks, roads and health facilities. He said that civil defence faces a double burden, not limited to recovering bodies or extinguishing fires, but extending to securing areas, dealing with explosive materials, and providing a minimum level of safety for residents who are forcibly returning to their destroyed homes.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

This post was originally published on Canary.