A house destroyed in the Gaza Strip.
Four Palestinians were killed and more than 30 injured in an explosion on Thursday in the Gaza strip.
The explosion occurred at a home in the Shaboura refugee camp in the city of Rafah, which sits on the border between Gaza and Egypt, when the Abu Naqeira family was clearing away the rubble and debris from their home in order to begin reconstruction, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra told AP. The four who were killed are extended family members of the Abu Naqeira family.
It is believed to have been caused by an unexploded ordnance left from Operation Protective Edge, last summer’s conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants after Israel Defense Force (IDF) officer Hadar Holdin was kidnapped in Gaza.
It is unclear whether the ordnance was left by Israeli or Palestinian militants, according to New York Post.
Rafah, the city where the explosion occurred, is a common site for underground smuggling and militant activity by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic group, and other organizations.
According to a UN report from January, about 7,000 explosive remnants of war (ERQ), like the one that detonated in Rafah, were left behind in the Gaza Strip after the war last summer-- only one-third have been cleared.
“The presence of thousands of ERWs threatens the lives and physical integrity of the population, impedes urgent humanitarian response and reconstruction efforts, and inhibits economic activity and the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs),” the report states.
A similar situation occurred last year when 6 people were killed when Gaza police engineers tried to deactivate an Israeli ordnance.
