The Long shadow of war: How Gaza became a minefield for generations

Nick Orr, an explosives disposal expert at the humanitarian organization Humanity & Inclusion, described the Gaza Strip as a terrifying, unmapped minefield and said that clearing the Strip of the vast amount of unexploded ordnance left by the Zionist regime’s war against Gaza over the past two years would take between 20 and 30 years.

He is currently part of a seven-member team formed by Humanity & Inclusion to survey areas near essential facilities — such as hospitals and bakeries — in search of explosive materials.

The group is now seeking permission from the Zionist regime to detect, remove, and destroy the explosives it discovers, and has pledged to neutralize the bombs to make their reuse impossible.

According to the New York Post, the explosives expert said that the Gaza Strip now resembles English cities after World War II; the scale of bombing and destruction in Gaza has been so extensive that many explosive remnants are buried deep beneath the soil and under the rubble.

He warned: “If you expect every piece of rubble and explosive remnant to be cleared, that will never be fully possible; many of them will remain deep underground, posing a threat to future generations.”

Orr, who has traveled to Gaza several times during the two years of war, added that surface-level clearance — meaning what can be seen above ground — might be achievable within a generation, roughly 20 to 30 years, but that would represent only a very small part of a much larger catastrophe.

According to United Nations data, more than 53 Palestinians in Gaza have been martyred by explosions caused by remnants of munitions from the past two years of war, and hundreds more have been injured. However, aid organizations believe the actual number of victims is far higher than official figures suggest.

Experts say that the sheer volume of bombardment and the use of heavy bombs in residential areas, schools, and hospitals have turned Gaza into one of the most contaminated regions in the world in terms of explosive remnants. It is estimated that millions of tons of rubble and unexploded ordnance remain scattered across the Gaza Strip — and clearing it will require specialized equipment, massive financial resources, and lasting security conditions.

According to the expert, conducting demining operations in Gaza without a stable ceasefire makes it impossible for international teams to enter the area, and any delay in this process means increased danger for thousands of civilians, especially children.

According to the UN report, as of Wednesday, at least 53 people have been killed by hidden bombs and hundreds more have been wounded.

The United Nations Mine Action Service has previously called for a large-scale public awareness campaign in Gaza to warn civilians returning to dangerous areas of the war-torn region to stay away from suspicious objects.

Clearing densely populated areas of mines can be a challenging and time-consuming effort; it took about 22 years for Mozambique to be officially declared mine-free in 2015, following its war of independence and subsequent civil war.

Even fifty years after the fall of Saigon, Vietnam still has countless unexploded mines in its soil; according to the latest estimate from Hanoi, around 18 percent of the country remains contaminated by mines.

According to Vietnam’s National Mine Action Center, since 1975, these explosives have killed about 40,000 people and injured another 60,000.