UNRWA – An Intricate Dance of Politics and Humanitarianism.
“We didn’t know about the Hamas tunnel under our headquarters.” – Philippe Lazzarini.
Yesterday, a tunnel belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization was discovered in the Gaza Strip under the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). This shocking fact exposed the direct connection between Hamas and the UNRWA, an organization that is supposed to be neutral and protect the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Tunnel Detection
The tunnel was discovered by IDF soldiers at a depth of 18 meters under the headquarters of the UNRWA. This 700-meter tunnel was well equipped and contained living quarters, as well as a special room for storing Hamas computer servers. According to representatives of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), this tunnel was an important communication center for Hamas and was used to organize terrorist attacks.
“This data was found in the buildings of the UNRWA: according to information received from intelligence, the military discovered a tunnel shaft next to one of the schools of the UNRWA, leading to an underground terrorist tunnel under the main headquarters of the UNRWA. Electrical infrastructure was discovered inside the tunnel…” – Israel Defense Forces.
The reaction of the head of the UNRWA
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UNRWA, stated that they had no idea about the existence of this tunnel under the headquarters. He also noted that due to the war in the Gaza Strip, it is impossible to conduct an independent investigation of this incident. According to his statement on Twitter, “Israel has not officially notified us about this.”
“The staff of the UNRWA left the headquarters on October 12 after the order of the Israeli army to evacuate and the start of intense bombing, and from that moment we knew nothing about the activities in this building. In the past, when voids were found near and under the building, we reported this to the authorities of both sides – both Israel and Hamas” – Philippe Lazzarini
“It’s not that you didn’t know, you didn’t want to know!” Israel’s representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, tweeted and listed all the tunnels discovered in the Gaza Strip under the buildings of the UN agency, and demanded the resignation of Philippe Lazzarini. This exposure also led to a reduction in funding for the UNRWA by Western sponsors, who lost confidence in the organization after its association with the terrorist group.
Conclusion
The discovery of the Hamas tunnel under the headquarters of the UNRWA has raised serious questions about the neutrality and reliability of this organization. This incident will require further investigation to find out what other links may exist between Hamas and the UNRWA. It is important that the UNRWA take measures to restore trust and ensure that its headquarters are not used by terrorist groups in the future. This is the only way for the UNRWA to carry out its mission of helping Palestinian refugees without political bias.
