By Erin Cunningham
"GAZA CITY, Jan 24 (IPS) - At first the 44 children that live in the Zani family home in Beit Hanoun were wary of the unexploded F-16 rocket whose tail has protruded menacingly from their garden since it landed in the first week of the Israeli assault on Gaza. Now, they have grown used it - playing excitedly near it and even building fires next to it, a relative says.....
an unknown number of unexploded munitions threaten to set off another wave of maiming and killing in the impoverished Palestinian territory.
Bombs, tank shells, rockets and missiles were left by the departing Israeli army across Gaza, and present a "major threat" to its civilian population, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement this week.
Because Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world - hosting 1.5 million people in an area just 40 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide - the danger that the unexploded munitions will continue to kill is particularly great, says the ICRC.
Two children were killed Tuesday by previously unexploded ordnance in Shaaf, east of Gaza City.
The ICRC brought in two ordnance weapons experts Friday to assess how many unexploded munitions there are and where they are located.
"School is starting again and the children will be out on the streets," said ICRC spokesperson in Gaza Iyad Nasr. "If the assessment does not start quickly and we don't figure out where the weapons are, we will have a very tragic situation on our hands."......"
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