The United Nations group that clears explosives from conflict zones tells NPR it has not started major clearing operations in Gaza, because Israel and Hamas have not yet agreed on the terms for disarmament of the territory.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
People in Gaza face the aftermath of war – all the unexploded rockets, artillery shells, grenades and other munitions left behind. NPR’s Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: The United Nations Mine Action Service says it’s encountered more than 700 explosive items on the ground in Gaza. But it’s not yet combing through Gaza to systematically remove these explosive remnants of war that pose a danger to civilians.
JULIUS VAN DER WALT: We haven’t begun. We haven’t begun. That’s unfortunately the reality of it all.
ESTRIN: Julius Van Der Walt heads the U.N. program in Gaza. What they are doing so far is clearing unexploded ordnance at aid sites and creating safe passages for humanitarian aid convoys. They are not yet focused on clearing ordnance from civilian areas. Their activities are limited. He’s overseeing a team of 33 people and has not been able to scale up.
Israel recently banned one aid group helping clear explosives, and it bans the entry of heavy machinery to Gaza to process rubble. Israel says Hamas could get hold of the machinery and use it for military purposes. Hamas and militant groups also impose impediments restricting teams from independently accessing areas they deem sensitive. But the main reason the U.N. program has not begun widespread explosives clearing is that Israel and Hamas have not agreed on how Gaza will be demilitarized.
VAN DER WALT: It is all about having the right coordination, having the right buy-in of all the parties so that we don’t go into any area where we are being perceived as doing something which we aren’t.
ESTRIN: For instance, he doesn’t want to put his staff at risk and have them cart away unexploded ordnance but then be accused of taking away Hamas’ weapons before there’s an agreement on what demilitarizing Gaza will look like. Hamas says it is willing to lay down its weapons, but what kind of weapons? The U.S. is still working on a proposal.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Mine Action Service has found all kinds of conventional and improvised ammunition lying around Gaza – not only ordnance dropped by the Israeli military. It’s found ammunition used by Palestinian armed groups and made in other countries.
VAN DER WALT: We found Iranian ammunition. We found Russian ammunition.
ESTRIN: The longer it is not dealt with, the greater the risk. Children in Gaza have picked up explosive ordnance and been killed and badly injured, and casings of explosive ordnance can corrode, contaminating the soil and groundwater, affecting agriculture in the future.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.