New Delhi: The Israeli military claims to have discovered a tunnel underneath the Gaza HQ of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), alleging that all tunnels operated by Hamas underneath the Palestinian enclave were powered from here. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) also invited international media to survey the tunnel, which they said is 700 metres long and 18 metres deep.
“Acting on ISA intelligence, the forces discovered a tunnel shaft near an UNRWA school, leading to an underground terrorist tunnel beneath UNRWA’s main headquarters. The forces found electrical infrastructure inside the tunnel connected to UNRWA’s main HQ, suggesting it was supplying the tunnel with electricity — generated by the fuel provided through humanitarian aid,” the IDF said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
It added that the tunnel “contained multiple blast doors and various intelligence assets seized by the forces” and that “intelligence and documents found confirmed the offices’ use by Hamas terrorists”.
These findings were found within @UNRWA facilities:
Acting on ISA intelligence, the forces discovered a tunnel shaft near an UNRWA school, leading to an underground terrorist tunnel beneath UNRWA's main headquarters. The forces found electrical infrastructure inside the tunnel… pic.twitter.com/n5EWJpyI4o
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 10, 2024
“Large quantities of weapons, including rifles, ammunition, grenades and explosives, were uncovered hidden in the building’s offices,” claimed the IDF.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini in a statement Saturday said UNRWA staff had left its headquarters in Gaza on 12 October following Israeli evacuation orders and as bombardment intensified in the area.
“We have not used that compound since we left it nor are we aware of any activity that may have taken place there,” he said, adding that the last inspection for UNRWA Gaza premises was completed in September 2023.
– UNRWA did not know what is under its headquarters in Gaza.
– UNRWA is made aware of reports through the media regarding a tunnel under the UNRWA Headquarters in Gaza.
– UNRWA staff left its headquarters in Gaza City on 12 October following the Israeli evacuation orders and as…
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) February 10, 2024
“UNRWA…does not have the military and security expertise nor the capacity to undertake military inspections of what is or might be under its premises,” he further said.
Lazzarini added that in the past, “whenever (a) suspicious cavity was found close to or under UNRWA premises, protest letters were promptly filed to parties to the conflict, including both the de facto authorities in Gaza (Hamas) and the Israeli authorities”.
Also Read: Israel war on Gaza has gone beyond ‘right to self-defence’ to ‘responsibility to protect’
‘Hamas tunnels found’ in Gaza
This is not the first time Israeli forces have discovered a tunnel they claim was being used by Hamas, since a terror attack by the Islamist outfit on the Israeli mainland resulted in retaliatory strikes. Israel has maintained that Hamas was using an extensive network of tunnels under schools and hospitals in Gaza to continue with its activities while evading airstrikes.
In November last year, the Israeli military claimed it had discovered a tunnel shaft under the beleaguered al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. It said that it found a 55-metre-long, 10-metre-deep tunnel under the hospital, which is Gaza’s largest medical facility.
In January, Israel made a similar claim about a tunnel shaft inside a school in the Khirbet Ahza area of southern Gaza. The IDF later released a photo showing mortars, grenades and bullets inside the school and said it found photos of ‘weapons geared for children’.
Other than this, the Israeli military also claimed that it located and destroyed three tunnel shafts near Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza last December.
International observers have yet to establish a direct link between the tunnels and bunker-like spaces to military activity by Hamas or other Palestinian groups.
According to one report by The Washington Post from last November, Israeli officials “estimate there are 1,300 tunnels, spanning 300 miles across the Gaza strip”. Another report by The New York Times from last month cited a statement by the Israeli forces to say that they had begun “pumping water into the vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza”.
UNRWA in Gaza
The UNRWA, which provides critical relief to thousands of Palestinians affected by Israeli airstrikes, has been under greater scrutiny since the beginning of the current conflict.
This comes against the backdrop of statements by Right Wing members of the Netanyahu administration who have referred to the war as “Gaza’s Nakba” — the term used to describe displacement of Palestinians in 1948. Another minister suggested dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza, before he was suspended from cabinet meetings.
Palestinians and global rights groups have accused Israel of tarnishing the UNRWA by spreading false information against it. The UNRWA employs 13,000 people in more than 300 installations in Gaza. Israel claims 10 percent of the aid agency’s employees have links to Hamas and other groups. The organisation had sacked several employees last month following Israeli allegations that they were a part of the October 7 attacks.
The allegations led to at least 10 Western countries, including the US and France, either withdrawing or temporarily suspending funding to the aid agency that runs schools, healthcare clinics and distributes aid in the Palestinian enclave. However, some including Ireland, Spain and Norway continue to fund it and have criticised others’ decision to pause funding.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: As Gaza war rages on, Machiavelli would’ve warned Netanyahu. Enemies can learn from warfare