UN agency starts cleanup of Gaza City waste site amid health concerns

Gaza City Clears Its Graveyard: Solid Waste Dump Unearthed as Health Crisis Escalates

As the dust settles on another phase of Gaza’s ongoing conflict, efforts are underway to unearth one of its most visible scars—namely, a massive wartime waste dump that has swallowed parts of Gaza City’s historic Fras Market. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has begun clearing this colossal mound of garbage, which had transformed the market district into an environmental and health hazard.

The UNDP initiated the removal operation in conjunction with the Gazan Municipality, confirming the start of the relocation effort through a joint press release. Head of the UNDP Gaza Office, Alessandro Mrakic, emphasized that work began to dismantle the mound, which now towers over 13 meters (14 yards) and encompasses more than 300,000 cubic metres (390,000 cubic yards) of solid waste. The site, once a bustling hub for nearly six hundred thousand residents in Gaza City, has been buried under the debris since October when municipal crews were barred from reaching Gaza’s main landfill adjacent to Israel’s border.

Over the coming months, UNDP plans to transfer this refuse to an interim holding area situated in Abu Jarad, south of Gaza City. This new site covers 75,000 square metres and is prepared under strict environmental guidelines. The project, funded by the Humanitarian Fund and the European Union’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, aims to mitigate a burgeoning solid-waste crisis that has swelled to over 350,000 cubic metres within Gaza City.

Despite some residents attempting to salvage usable items from the garbage, Gazan Abu Issa expressed relief at the prospect of clearing his neighborhood. “It needs to be moved to a site with a complex of old waste, far away from people,” he explained. “There’s no other solution. What will this cause? It will cause us gases, it will cause us diseases, and it will cause us germs.”

The UNDP’s efforts are part of broader initiatives aimed at addressing the acute solid-waste challenge gripping Gaza City. Since the war began, the agency has collected over 570,000 tons of garbage across the region to mitigate further deterioration in public health conditions. However, only about ten percent of temporary dumpsites remain accessible and operational; two main sanitary landfills are still inaccessible.

“This removal project is not just a physical undertaking,” Mrakic noted. “It’s an urgent step to contain a worsening environmental crisis that has long plagued Gaza City.”

Amjad al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network and a liaison with UN agencies, underscored the significance of this work. “This dumpsite was more than just garbage—it symbolized the two-year-long war,” he explained. “The removal of these sites may bring hope to Gazans that the ceasefire agreed last October is moving forward.”

As efforts to relocate and manage Gaza’s waste continue, local residents are awaiting a moment of relief—an evacuation from their home for a period long enough to make plans for resettlement elsewhere.