The Israeli army has carried out relentless airstrikes and bombardments in Gaza since Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct 7.

UN agencies led an “assessment mission” in Khan Younis after Israeli forces withdrew from the embattled city last week, UNRWA said.

It found “significant challenges in operating safely due to the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXOs), including 1,000-pound bombs inside schools and on roads”.

“Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) require a range of life-saving assistance, including health, water. and sanitation, and food,” it said.

Earlier this month, the United Nations said it would take “millions of dollars and many years to decontaminate the (Gaza) Strip from unexploded munitions”.

“We work off the rule of thumb that 10% of ordnance doesn’t function as designed,” UN Mine Action Service chief Charles Birch said in a statement earlier this month.

“We estimate that, to begin the clearance of Gaza, we need around US$45 million.”

The Oct 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,843 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.