A huge pile of debris. It is an almost uninterrupted deluge of bombs that has fallen on Gaza since October 7, 2023 and the Hamas attack on Israel. The Israeli army has dropped tens of thousands of bombs on the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 42,000 people, as of October 7, 2024, according to the Hamas-linked Gaza Health Ministry. This territory, which extends over 360 km² and where more than 2 million people lived before the conflict (one of the most densely populated in the world), is now a field of ruins. Until today, more than 1.9 million people have been internally displaced, or 95% of the population, according to the UN. “This is one of the rare conflicts where civilians do not have the possibility of fleeing the fighting”sighs Pierre Motin, spokesperson for the French NGO Platform for Palestine (PFP). The majority of these inhabitants therefore find themselves crowded into an increasingly restricted humanitarian zone, of approximately 38 km², designated by the Israeli army.
“To date, the two million inhabitants are located on only 11% of the territory due to Israeli evacuation orders.”
Pierre Motin, spokesperson for the Association for Palestineat franceinfo
The bombings had dramatic consequences for the population, now faced with a shortage of food, drinking water and medicine. They have also disfigured the Gaza Strip, destroying homes, places of worship, businesses, hospitals, clinics and vital infrastructure, making the region virtually uninhabitable. This process of destruction has a name: urbicide, literally. “murder of cities”. Theorized in the 1960s, this concept designates a deliberate desire to destroy the symbols of the collective identity of a people: not only its places of worship and its cultural sites, but also its social spaces, as the anthropologist writes Véronique Nahoum-Grappe in the review All urban (University Presses of France, 2015). However, it is not mentioned in international or humanitarian law.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) assesses, month after month, the extent of the destruction in the Gaza Strip using satellite images. Nearly 90% of the debris was produced in the first six months of the war between Israel and Hamas. The amount of debris amounted to 3.9 million tons in November 2023, 37.5 million tons in March 2024, and 42.2 million tons in July 2024, representing 63% of Gaza’s structures damaged. This figure could still increase, warns Hassan Partow, spokesperson for UNEP. “Among these 63% of structures hit, approximately 58% are only slightly damaged. So they could be targeted again in future fighting, generating even more debris. Additionally, 37% of buildings remain intact for now, but risk being destroyed in turn”, he tells franceinfo.
This debris, mainly made of concrete and impregnated with toxic substances such as asbestos, often conceals unexploded ordnance and represents a major danger to the health of residents. UNEP estimates the quantity of materials contaminated by asbestos at around two million tonnes. Although the precise extent of contamination by unexploded ordnance remains undetermined, the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) considers this threat significant, as explained by the UNEP spokesperson. Furthermore, asbestos and unexploded ordnance are not the only perils. “The bombings also generate immense clouds of dust, made up of concrete and plastic”adds Pierre Motin. Since the start of the conflict, more than 586,000 cases of acute respiratory infections have been recorded in the Gaza Strip.
In comparison, the battle of Mosul, Iraq, which took place from October 17, 2016 to July 10, 2017, produced 10 million tons of debris, and that of Aleppo (Syria), from July 19, 2012 to December 22 2016, 14 million tonnes, according to the World Bank. “Not only are the quantities of debris in Gaza three to four times greater than those in Aleppo and Mosul, but the density of debris is significantly higher. This is particularly the case in heavily damaged areas, such as the city of Gaza, where the density of debris is four times that of Aleppo and 15 times that of Mosul”explains the spokesperson for the United Nations Environment Program.
On average, each square meter of the Gaza Strip is covered with 115 kg of debris, which makes clearing it titanic. According to the United Nations Environment Program, it will take between eight and twelve years to complete this task, with an estimated cost of between 552 and 696 million euros. Two scenarios are envisaged: in the first, all debris would be 100% eliminated in central sites spread across Gaza North, Gaza, Deir el-Balah, Khan Younes and Rafah. In the second, 50% of the debris would be eliminated and 50% recycled in recycling sites in Gaza North, Gaza and Khan Younes, with a crushing capacity of 200 tonnes/day. All of this debris would be transported using 105 trucks, with a capacity of 25 m3.
“Gaza has already gained experience with recycling debris from previous escalations, so there is nothing new. What is different is the unprecedented amounts of debris generated by this conflict, which will require new ways of thinking and working.”
Hassan Partow, spokesperson for the United Nations Environment Programat franceinfo
The second option of recycling seems to be the most suitable, due to a lack of raw materials available on site. However, the presence of explosive residues among this rubble risks considerably complicating the clearance operations, both financially and in terms of time. “This implies that each piece of debris must be systematically analyzed, in order to detect any trace of explosive. Each time a suspicious object is discovered, the work must be interrupted to allow the intervention of demining experts”explains a UNEP spokesperson. All workers responsible for sorting debris must receive specific training and be equipped to recognize unexploded ordnance, thus guaranteeing the safety of operations. But this lasting reconstruction will remain elusive until a real truce offers respite from the chaos. “For the moment, the only clearings that we observe on the ground are done with the means at hand. Reconstruction is not the priority”describes Pierre Motin. “With trucks or by hand, residents remove debris to clear a path and maintain lines of communication, essential for the passage of ambulances and humanitarian convoys”concludes the PFP advocacy manager.