GAZA, May 7, 2015 (WAFA) – Since the beginning of 2015, the UNDP has cleared a quarter of a million tons of rubble generated in 270 hard-hit locations as a result of the Israeli 2014 summer aggression on the Gaza Strip, according to a UNDP press release.

The UNDP stated that it has been removing the debris generated in hard-hit areas across the war-torn coastal enclave and has so forth successfully removed a quarter million tons of rubble from a total of 270 hard-hit locations, including the al-Shaja‘iya, Gaza city, Rafah and Khan Younes, paving the way for Gaza reconstruction.

The removal of the debris comes as a direct result of the $14 million agreements signed between the UNDP’s Program of Assistance to the Palestinian People and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Sweden and Japan during December 2014 to remove the rubble generated as a result of the latest Israeli onslaught on the war-torn strip.

According to a previous UNDP press release, the USAID contribution will enable UNDP to clear around 65% (649,177 tons) of the rubble generated in hard hit areas in Rafah, Khan Younis, Gaza City and northern governorates.

The project will be implemented over a period of one year and will generate approximately 116,852 workdays.

UNDP estimates that around two million tons of rubble have been generated during the 51 day Israeli military onslaught on Gaza.

The ongoing removal of rubble will enable more than one million people in the targeted areas to have access to basic services, particularly water and sanitation, reduce the risk of collapsing buildings and the threat of UXOs and other remnants of war.

As part of the project, UNDP has grinded about 60 tons of rubble and the grinded rubble would be used in road construction.

The latest onslaught on Gaza resulted in the destruction of 18,000 Palestinian housing units and displacement of at least 108,000 people.

K.F./T.R.