Gazans Launch Volunteer Campaign To Clean Streets, Restore Infrastructure | World News

Dozens of volunteers braved rainy weather to begin cleaning the streets of Gaza City as part of a wider volunteer campaign to repair vital infrastructure and remove rubble and debris left by the two-year war between Israel and Hamas.

Gaza Municipality launched the campaign in partnership with the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and the Palestinian NGO Network, aiming to “light a beacon of hope for the community’s participation in construction and reconstruction,” according to a statement posted on the municipality’s official Facebook page.

Gaza Municipality public relations officer Hosny Muhanna told Xinhua that the aim of the campaign is to eliminate waste and rubble, plant trees on the streets and restore beauty to the war-torn city.

According to Gaza Mayor Yahya al-Sarraj, the campaign was launched to prove that the Palestinian people “will remain in their land” and that all Israeli attempts to “break them” will fail.

“Seeing young people, men, children and the elderly participating in this campaign sends a message to the world that Gaza is livable,” al-Sarraj said during his participation in the campaign. he said.

Echoing the mayor, Amjad al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGO Network, said the campaign was the beginning of a path towards a larger goal of removing the 60 million tons of rubble that covered the Gaza Strip as a result of the war, in order to rebuild Gaza City “better than it was” before the war.

Ayed Abu Ramadan, Chairman of the Gaza Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, said in his speech at the campaign that Gaza has been subjected to massacre and destruction for the last two years, but has also proven its ability to “recover from the rubble”.

Ibrahim Hasan, a 30-year-old volunteer from Gaza City, said he joined the campaign because he was confident that Gaza would only come back to life “by the hands of its own people.”

“Life must return to Gaza and we must begin to rebuild it, even if it requires generations of young people and children,” Hassan added, as he carried a pickaxe to remove rubble from one of Gaza City’s main streets.

Volunteer Hanan Obeid, who wore a face mask while cleaning the garbage piles on the street, said, “I am very proud to participate in this campaign,” and explained that it is the duty of everyone in the city to contribute to this campaign for the rapid revival of Gaza.

The campaign comes amid warnings that the Gaza Strip is suffering from a serious humanitarian crisis and that an environmental and health crisis could result from the accumulation of waste near areas housing displaced people.

Alaa al-Batta, deputy chairman of the Gaza Strip Union of Municipalities, told Xinhua that 700,000 tons of waste have accumulated in makeshift dumps, and municipalities in the region are unable to cope with them due to shortages of fuel and equipment.