Hamas urges urgent action to clear deadly unexploded remnants in Gaza

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has called for urgent international action to remove unexploded ordnance and other remnants of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, warning that they pose an escalating threat to civilians, particularly children.

In a statement issued on Monday evening, spokesperson Hazem Qassem said that the injuries reported among children as a result of explosive remnants “highlight the increasing dangers facing all our people in the Gaza Strip as the war of extermination and destruction continues”.

Qassem urged all relevant international bodies to “act immediately to clear these dangerous remnants, which are ticking time bombs that could explode at any moment”.

Earlier on Monday, two children were injured when a suspicious object, believed to be Israeli ordnance, detonated in the Tuffah neighbourhood in the north-east of Gaza City. The police also reported a separate incident in which a child was moderately injured when an item believed to be an Israeli remnant exploded in the Shati area, west of Gaza City.

Gaza’s police force appealed to the public to ensure children do not touch unexploded shells or suspicious objects left behind after months of bombardment. It urged residents to report any such items immediately by contacting the police on 100 or the Ministry of Interior’s central operations line at 109.

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