The UN estimates Gaza contains 61 million tonnes of war rubble and clearing it could uncover as many as 8,000 to 10,000 bodies, the UN Development Programme’s special representative Jaco Cilliers said. UN and World Food Programme teams have so far removed about 907,000 tonnes of debris and recycled more than 300,000 tonnes, roughly 1.5 percent of the total, and have cleared 580 km of roads to allow aid movement. Engineers such as Ahmed Alyan describe the scale as overwhelming, while clearance crews work amid sewage leaks, tilted buildings, unexploded ordnance and human remains. The UN says removing the bulk of the rubble could take at least seven to 10 years and cost billions of dollars, making it one of the largest postwar clearance operations in modern history. Israeli restrictions that bar entry of heavy equipment on dual-use grounds have limited what teams can bring into Gaza and slowed reconstruction. The UNDP is operating five rubble-crushing sites to sort and recycle concrete for reuse, but only around 30 percent of Gaza is currently accessible to aid workers and residents, complicating where and how to process the debris.
