Israel must allow removal of hazardous trash in Gaza

UN humanitarians on Thursday urged Israeli authorities to allow Gaza sanitation workers to remove waste from displacement sites and residential areas to Gaza designated landfills to mitigate potentially life-threatening risks of fire.



On Friday UN teams mobilized water tankers and machinery to support crews responding to a fire at Firas market, in the center of Gaza City, right next to people's shelters, which has been used as a major solid waste dump, as designated landfills has become inaccessible during hostilities, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press release.



As a result, trash now at the Firas market is covering an entire city block, exceeding four floors in height, OCHA said, stressing that sanitation partners report that Gaza's two sanitary landfills are near the perimeter fence surrounding the strip, where access needs to be enabled by the Israeli authorities.