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Unexploded 1,000-pound bombs found in Gaza schools: UNRWA

The United Nations agency says it will take "millions of dollars and many years to decontaminate the (Gaza) Strip from unexploded munitions".

AFP

The report added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said last week that "the date was determined" for the land attack on Rafah, "postponed" this step. / Photo: AFP

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has found unexploded 1,000-pound bombs inside schools after Israel pulled troops out of southern Gaza's main city Khan Younis.

UN agencies led an "assessment mission" in Khan Younis after Israeli forces withdrew from the embattled city last week, UNRWA said on Tuesday.

It found "significant challenges in operating safely due to the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXOs), including 1,000-pound bombs inside schools and on roads".

"Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) require a range of lifesaving assistance, including health, water and sanitation, and food," it said.

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'Millions of dollars and many years'

Earlier this month, the United Nations said it would take "millions of dollars and many years to decontaminate Gaza from unexploded munitions".

"We work off the rule of thumb that 10 percent of ordnance doesn't function as designed," UN Mine Action Service chief Charles Birch said in a statement earlier this month.

"We estimate that, to begin the clearance of Gaza, we need around $45 million."

Israel has pounded Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85 percent of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while over 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.