加沙严重受未爆弹药（UXO）污染：哈马斯管理的政务媒体估计全境超过7,000吨，按平方米计算的密度或许是全球最高。武装分子反复将弹药改造成武器；平民每天面临来自瓦砾中和表面的轻型弹药——手榴弹、迫击炮弹和简易爆炸装置——的风险；六岁双胞胎Yahya和Nabila Shorbasi误将炸药当玩具严重受伤就是一例。以色列投下数千枚炸弹；其中一些重达900公斤（2,000磅），并有延时引信用于在建筑物内或地下引爆，混凝土缓冲可导致炸弹未在撞击时爆炸而在地下隧道中引爆。

清除未爆弹药是漫长、昂贵且危险的工作。英国向联合国扫雷行动处（UNMAS）承诺了4百万英镑（约5.25百万美元），但清理规模巨大：在摩苏尔为期九个月的军事行动结束八年后，UNMAS仍在清理未爆弹药，而以色列对加沙的轰炸更为猛烈，这意味着所需时间和费用将更高。

清理受限于多重因素：巴勒斯坦人不可接受爆炸物处理训练；国际专家和所谓“可双重用途”设备常被拒绝入境；排雷人员被迫即兴应对——用装满沙子的旧食品袋做防爆护盾。与摩苏尔不同，加沙很少有人可撤离；UNMAS在救援食品包装上印刷未爆弹药警告，但发现炸药时通常只能做标记，而哈马斯继续将发现的弹药改装再用。

Gaza is heavily contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO): Hamas-run government media estimated over 7,000 tonnes across the strip, a density higher per square metre than perhaps anywhere else. Militants have repeatedly remade munitions into weapons; civilians face everyday risks from small munitions—grenades, mortar shells and IEDs in and on rubble—and incidents include six-year-old twins Yahya and Nabila Shorbasi badly injured after mistaking an explosive for a toy. Israel dropped thousands of bombs; some weighed as much as 900 kg (2,000 lb) and some had delayed fuses to detonate inside buildings or underground, with concrete cushioning enabling tunnelling detonations.

Clearing UXO is lengthy, costly and dangerous. Britain pledged £4m ($5.25m) to the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), but clearance scales are vast: eight years after Mosul’s nine-month campaign UNMAS still clears UXO, and Gaza was bombed far more heavily, implying longer timelines and higher costs.

Clearance is constrained: Palestinians cannot train in explosives disposal; international specialists and dual-use equipment are often denied entry; de-miners improvise—old food sacks filled with sand used as blast shields. Evacuation is rare in Gaza (unlike Mosul); UNMAS prints UXO warnings on food-aid packets but typically can only mark explosives on discovery, while Hamas continues repurposing found ordnance.