Clearing Gaza's surface of bombs will take up to 30 years: Aid group

Clearing the surface of Gaza of unexploded ordnance will likely take between 20 to 30 years, according to an official with aid group Humanity & Inclusion, describing the enclave as a "horrific, unmapped minefield.

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More than 53 people have been killed and hundreds injured by lethal remnants from the two-year Israel-Hamas war, according to a UN-led database, which is thought by aid groups to be a huge underestimate.

A US-brokered ceasefire this month has raised hopes that the huge task of removing them from among millions of tonnes of rubble can begin.

"If you're looking at a full clearance, it's never happening, it's subterranean. We will find it for generations to come," said Nick Orr, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert at Humanity & Inclusion, comparing the situation with British cities after World War Two.

"Surface clearance, now that's something that's attainable within a generation, I think 20 to 30 years," he added.

"It's going to be a very small chipping away at a very big problem."

Orr, who went to Gaza several times during the conflict, is part of his organisation's seven-person team that will begin identifying war remnants there in essential infrastructure like hospitals and bakeries next week.