Dozens of diggers and other heavy-duty vehicles are working ferociously along Al-Jalaa Street in central Gaza City, continuing the desperate battle to open roads that have been blocked for months.

After two years of war, Gaza is buried under more than 61 million tonnes of debris and three quarters of buildings have been destroyed, according to UN data.

"This is a very arduous process and will take many years to complete," said Jaco Cilliers, representative for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Palestine.

Clearing roads and recycling materials is phase one of a massive debris management plan for Gaza aimed at restoring access to essential services such as hospitals and schools.

With a delicate ceasefire in place, the clean-up is under way. What's involved, how much rubble is it and how dangerous is the operation?

MANAGING THE RUBBLE

As of July 8, 2025, the Israeli army had damaged or destroyed nearly 193,000 buildings in the densely populated territory of Gaza City, representing about 78 percent of existing structures before the conflict began on October 7, 2023, according to UN satellite analysis.

Assessment of images in September, had that figure rise to 83 percent of buildings damaged or destroyed. 

The amount of debris is around 61.5 million tons. 

That is the weight equivalent of around 107 Shanghai Towers (China's tallest building and the second tallest in the world and weighs 575,000 tons). Or 15 Palace of the Parliaments in Bucharest in Romania (the world's heaviest building at 4.1 million tons). 

It is the equivalent to over 169kg of debris for each square meter of Gaza's small territory.

Nearly two-thirds of the debris was made in the first five months of the war, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The destruction of buildings also accelerated in the months leading up to the current ceasefire. 

Eight million tons of debris were generated from April to July 2025, mostly in the southern part of the territory between Rafah and Khan Younis.

DEADLY TOXIC WASTE

A preliminary analysis published by UNEP in August warned the debris poses a serious health risk to the exposed population. 

The report suggests at least 4.9 million tons of debris may be contaminated with asbestos from old buildings, particularly near refugee camps, such as those in Jabaliya in the north, Nuseirat and al-Maghazi in the center, and Rafah and Khan Younis in the south. 

UNEP also reported at least 2.9 million tons of debris could be contaminated with "hazardous waste from known industrial sites."

EXPLOSIVE DANGERS

Clearing the surface of Gaza of unexploded ordnance will likely take between 20 to 30 years, according to aid group Humanity & Inclusion, describing the enclave as a "horrific, unmapped minefield."

More than 53 people have been killed and hundreds injured by lethal remnants from the two-year Israel-Hamas war, according to a UN-led database, which is thought by aid groups to be a huge underestimate.

"If you're looking at a full clearance, it's never happening, it's subterranean. We will find it for generations to come," said Nick Orr, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert at Humanity & Inclusion, comparing the situation with British cities after World War Two.

"Surface clearance, now that's something that's attainable within a generation, I think 20 to 30 years. It's going to be a very small chipping away at a very big problem."

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has warned of the danger posed to civilians and rubble removal efforts by munitions left behind by the Israeli military. 

It is estimated that around 20,000 unexploded bombs, rockets and missiles lie scattered in the rubble. 

The ceasefire provided some hope. Now the clear-up mission is yet another monumental challenge facing the Gazans.