UNRWA finds unexploded 1,000-pound bombs

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said yesterday it had found unexploded 1,000-pound bombs inside schools after Israel pulled troops out of southern Gaza's main city Khan Yunis.

UN agencies led an "assessment mission" in Khan Yunis after Israeli forces withdrew from the embattled city last week, UNRWA said.

It found "significant challenges in operating safely due to the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXOs), including 1,000-pound bombs inside schools and on roads".

"Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) require a range of lifesaving assistance, including health, water and sanitation, and food," it said.

Earlier this month, the United Nations said it would take "millions of dollars and many years to decontaminate the (Gaza) Strip from unexploded munitions", reports AFP.

"We work off the rule of thumb that 10 percent of ordnance doesn't function as designed," UN Mine Action Service chief Charles Birch said in a statement earlier this month.

"We estimate that, to begin the clearance of Gaza, we need around $45 million."

Meanwhile, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday that Israel has moved in a "significant way" but Hamas is the barrier to a deal that would see fighting in Gaza paused and hostages released.

Hamas rejected the latest proposal for a deal and has said any new hostage deal must bring about an end to the Gaza offensive and withdrawal of all Israeli forces.

"Israel moved a significant way in submitting that proposal. And there was a deal on the table that would achieve much of what Hamas claims it wants to achieve, and they have not taken that deal," Miller told a press briefing.