Gaza buried under 61 million tonnes of rubble

Three-quarters of its buildings destroyed; health risk from asbestos contamination

- 

After two years of war, Gaza is buried under more than 61 million tonnes of debris and three-quarters of its buildings have been destroyed, according to United Nations data analysed by AFP.

The fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, which came into effect on Oct 10 under pressure from US President Donald Trump, opens the way for the reconstruction of the devastated territory.

This will require managing the immense amount of rubble.

As at July 8, the Israeli army had damaged or destroyed nearly 193,000 buildings in the densely populated territory, representing about 78 per cent of existing structures before the conflict began on Oct 7, 2023, according to satellite analysis by the UN’s Unosat programme.