Gaza: Dozens of volunteers began cleaning the streets of Gaza City, braving the rainy weather to restore vital infrastructure and remove rubble and debris left by the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, as part of a broader volunteer campaign. Gaza Municipality launched the campaign in partnership with the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture and the Palestinian NGO Network, aiming to “shine a light of hope for community participation in construction and reconstruction,” according to a statement published by the municipality on its official Facebook page.
Hosny Muhanna, Gaza Municipality’s public relations officer, told Xinhua that the campaign aims to remove waste and rubble, plant trees along the streets, and restore beauty to the war-torn city. For Yahya al-Sarraj, mayor of Gaza City, the campaign was launched to prove that the Palestinian people “will remain on their land,” and that all Israeli attempts to “break them” will fail.
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“When we see young people, men, children, and the elderly participating in this campaign, it sends a message to the world that Gaza is capable of life,” al-Sarraj said during his participation in the campaign. Echoing the mayor, Amjad al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGO Network, said the campaign is the beginning of the path toward a larger goal of removing 60 million tons of rubble covering the Gaza Strip as a result of the war, in order to rebuild Gaza City “better than it was” before the war, Xinhua news agency reported.
Ayed Abu Ramadan, head of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture, said during his speech at the campaign that Gaza has been subjected to killing and destruction over the past two years, but has also proven its ability to “rise from the rubble again.” Volunteer Ibrahim Hassan, 30, from Gaza City, said he participated in the campaign because he is certain that Gaza will only return to life “by the hands of its own people.” “Life must return to Gaza, and we must begin rebuilding it, even if it takes generations of young people and children,” Hassan added, as he carried a pickaxe to remove rubble from one of Gaza City’s main streets.
For her part, volunteer Hanan Obeid, wearing a face mask as she removed piles of garbage from a street, said, “I am very proud to participate in this campaign,” explaining that it is everyone’s duty in the city to contribute to this campaign in order to quickly restore life to Gaza. The campaign comes at a time when the Gaza Strip is suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis, amid warnings of an environmental and health crisis due to the accumulation of waste near areas where displaced people are sheltering. Alaa al-Batta, deputy head of the Union of Municipalities in the Gaza Strip – , told Xinhua that 700,000 tons of waste are piling up in makeshift dumps, which the municipalities in the enclave are unable to handle due to fuel and equipment shortages.