lives, memories, and unexploded Israeli bombs lie buried in the removal of war debris, which is one of the largest clearance operations in modern history. It took all day to clear a section of road in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City. At the end of it, Ahmed Alyan, a UN engineer, was exhausted, surrounded by mountains of rubble despite the day's work. "I feel as if we are holding a spoon and trying to empty the sea," Alyan said, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead after a long, hot summer day.