Landmines: Palestine's hidden dangerBy Laila El-Haddad in Gaza
Saturday 10 January 2004All over Gaza, large well-illustrated billboards sporting the UNICEF logo can be seen alongside major streets and busy intersections.
They show photos of Israeli-made bombs and mines, and carry a single in-your-face message: “Landmines and suspicious objects are a danger that threatens us all! Do not try to get near them!”
While landmines usually invoke images of places like once war-torn Angola or Afghanistan, the issue is gaining increasing prominence in the occupied Palestinian territories.
UNICEF representatives say the occupied West Bank and Gaza are littered with landmines dating back to the 1967 invasion.
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At least 23 children have been killed by landmines or UXO planted by the Israeli military in the occupied Palestinian territories since the start of the Intifada in September 2000.
In 2002, DCI documented 57 landmine and UXO casualties, including 13 deaths, 11 of them children; 31 of these casualties occurred in the period during and following Israeli military operations in the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002.
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Early last year in the Gaza Strip, five Palestinian children were killed when they stepped on a booby- trapped landmine. They were on their way to school in the Khan Yunis refugee camp.
Israeli officials said the booby trap was intended to prevent Palestinians from infiltrating into a neighbouring Jewish settlement.
“The problem has escalated, now it’s not only in military zones but in all Palestinian areas. We never imagined in Ram Allah there would be an explosion of unexploded munitions," said Abu Qtaish.
He was referring to an incident near the Bir al-Jadida school in Ram Allah, where three children were killed, and five others injured after stepping on a UXO.
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http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/572F7C6F-802B-427E-9B8E-5A14E0D04BB4.htm