The pinnacle of the United Nations Reduction and Works Company has denied that the group knew a couple of community of tunnels that the Israeli navy found below its Gaza headquarters amid issues concerning the company's ties to Hamas.
The Israel Protection Forces found a knowledge middle — full with {an electrical} room and dwelling quarters for Hamas terrorists — below UNRWA's Gaza headquarters within the Rimal district.
On Saturday X postUNRWA Commissioner-Basic Philippe Lazzarini stated the media had knowledgeable the company of reviews of a tunnel below its headquarters in Gaza. Lazzarini additionally claimed that UNRWA workers members complied with Israeli evacuation orders and left the headquarters on 12 October as shelling within the space intensified.
“We’ve got not used the compound since we left it, nor are we conscious of any exercise that will have taken place there,” the UNRWA commissioner-general stated, including that the company “is unable to verify or in any other case touch upon these reviews.” ”
Lazzarini additionally stated that UNRWA final inspected its premises in Gaza in September 2023, noting that the company conducts such inspections quarterly throughout occasions of “no energetic battle”.
“UNRWA is a human improvement and humanitarian support group that doesn’t have the navy and safety experience or the capability to conduct navy inspections of what’s or may very well be on its premises,” he added, including that Israeli authorities had not formally knowledgeable UNRWA. tunnel.
The report of the tunnel comes after allegations emerged that 12 UNRWA workers might have been concerned within the October 7 Hamas invasion of Israel. Throughout the shock assault, the terrorist group killed at the least 1,200 folks, most of them civilians, and kidnapped greater than 240 others.
Late final month, numerous media shops reported on intelligence documentation that estimated that some 1,200 UNRWA workers in Gaza had ties to Hamas, the terrorist group that has managed the Gaza Strip since 2007, or to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
UNRWA didn’t instantly reply to The Christian Publish's request for remark.
As The Instances of Israel reported Saturday, the outlet's navy correspondent Emanuel Fabian toured the underground knowledge middle throughout a media tour with the IDF on Thursday. The correspondent famous that the headquarters is situated in an space the place the Israeli military had beforehand dismantled a Hamas battalion.
Fabian described how the IDF led reporters by way of a 700-meter tunnel, with the route they adopted ultimately main them to an air-conditioned and tiled hall. There have been additionally posters of the Hamas navy brand within the hallway, in keeping with the reporter, and a 300-meter passage within the hallway led to a knowledge middle and {an electrical} room.
Colonel Nissim Hazan, the senior officer of the 401st Brigade, instructed Fabian as they walked by way of the rooms within the tunnel's major hall that the UNRWA kids's college was above their heads. After strolling a couple of extra meters into the tunnel, the tour entered {the electrical} room, which Hazan stated was situated below the UNRWA major constructing.
The room contained dozens of server cupboards, Fabian stated, and the IDF believes Hamas used the server farm to collect data. After exiting the tunnel, the tour introduced journalists to the UNRWA headquarters, the place one other member of the IDF instructed reporters that his forces had discovered Hamas weapons after battling the terrorists for the compound.
IDF forces found the weapons – which reportedly included grenades, rocket launchers and explosives – after UNRWA workers evacuated the constructing, in keeping with The Instances of Israel.
In accordance with the IDF, paperwork and gear found within the UNRWA places of work indicated that “the identical places of work have been additionally utilized by Hamas terrorists”.
Colonel Benny Aharon, commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, claimed there was “little doubt” that UNRWA workers knew concerning the Hamas tunnel.
“There’s a perimeter wall, a gate, cameras, on the gate they document who enters and exits,” Aharon stated. “Whoever labored in UNRWA knew very nicely who was coming and who was masking.”
Aharon confirmed reporters the UNRWA server room, which The Instances of Israel stated is situated above a knowledge middle in a Hamas tunnel. The commander additionally confirmed reporters a sequence of cables operating down into the ground, which the IDF believes might have fed a Hamas knowledge middle under.
He additionally instructed reporters that UNRWA had cleared its server room of computer systems and digital video recorders for surveillance cameras and had minimize a lot of the cables. Aharon stated he thinks the company's conduct exhibits it has “one thing to cover.”
“Somebody who works at UNRWA, who needs to be involved about human rights, involved concerning the welfare of the inhabitants in Gaza, shouldn’t be in a rush to disconnect all of the DVRs, cameras, minimize all of the wires and seize all of the computer systems. Aharon stated. “These are the actions of somebody who knew the military was coming and wished to cover the proof.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Publish. You possibly can contact her at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Comply with her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
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