WASHINGTON, December 6. /TASS/. Unexploded bombs used by both sides of the conflict in the Gaza Strip may make some areas of the Palestinian enclave uninhabitable, the Washington Post reported.

The UN Mine Action Service and other expert groups estimate that, on average, one in 10 munitions in Gaza fails to explode. According to UNMAS explosives clearance expert Charles Birch, there are now "hundreds, if not thousands" of unexploded ordnance in Gaza, including makeshift rockets built by Hamas and high-tech munitions supplied to Israel by the United States. All of them put Gazans in danger similar to "something from World War II," Birch said. He said it would "cost tens of millions of dollars and take many years to make the entire area safe."

Birch said that defusing just one bomb could cost up to $40,000, require more than a month of work, and take up to 30 contractors. Simon Elmont, a demining expert with the non-profit organization Humanity & Inclusion, told the newspaper that the capital of Gaza will be "largely uninhabitable whilst the clearance operations are ongoing." The newspaper reported that leftover bombs from previous rounds of fighting between Israel and Hamas posed a danger to civilians even before the current crisis began, but that the problem is now "exponentially worse."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell earlier said that more than 40% of homes in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed. He called the situation in the region disastrous, also pointing to the lack of water, food, medicine and energy.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7, accompanied by killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking hostages. Hamas has cast the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started a military operation there. Israel also strikes parts of Lebanon and Syria in retaliation for bombardments originating from these countries. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.