GAZA: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday it had found unexploded 1,000-pound bombs inside schools after Israel pulled troops out of southern Gaza's main city Khan Yunis.
The Israeli army has carried out relentless air strikes and bombardments in Gaza since Palestinian groups attacked Israel on October 7.
UN agencies led an "assessment mission" in Khan Yunis after Israeli forces withdrew from the embattled city last week, UNRWA said.
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.
Earlier this month, the United Nations said it would take "millions of dollars and many years to decontaminate the (Gaza) Strip 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."
The October 7 attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people in Israel, according to a tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,843 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the territory.
Meanwhile, UNRWA said Tuesday there had been "no significant change" in the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA added in a statement that "181 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza per day" through land crossings from Israel and Egypt so far in April.
It said this "remains well below the operational capacity of both border crossings and the target of 500 trucks per day."
Last week Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant told reporters that Israel planned to "flood Gaza with aid" and increase deliveries to 500 truckloads per day.
The Israeli defence ministry body responsible for coordinating Palestinian affairs, COGAT, said 126 trucks entered the northern Gaza Strip overnight, and that 237 trucks entered Gaza on Monday.
For months, aid groups and foreign governments including top ally the United States have urged Israel to reopen border crossings into northern Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told new army recruits on Tuesday that Israel is fighting "without mercy", according to a statement from his office.
Israel has kept up its bombing campaign in Gaza and the coastal territory has been largely devastated by the war and the siege on its 2.4 million people. — AFP
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