Israel discovers Hamas command tunnel under UN relief headquarters

Military engineers guided foreign news agency reporters through these tunnels amid an internal investigation by UNRWA into allegations that some of its local members were Hamas fighters, an incident that led several countries to cut aid to the UN-run organization that supports Palestinian refugees.

Israeli troops enter the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza on February 8, 2024. Photo: Israeli Army

Palestinians, however, have accused Israel of falsifying information to tarnish UNRWA, which employs 13,000 people in the Gaza Strip and has been a lifeline for aid-dependent residents for years. The agency runs schools, health clinics and other social services, and distributes aid.

UNRWA's headquarters are in Gaza City, one of several northern areas that Israeli troops and tanks have stormed since the start of the now four-month-old war against Hamas.

The heavily escorted reporters on the trip entered a tunnel next to a school on the outskirts of the area, descending into a concrete-lined passageway. An army lieutenant colonel leading the tour said the twenty-minute walk through the hot, narrow, and at times stiflingly winding passage brought them beneath UNRWA Headquarters.

Israeli troops enter a small passageway leading down to the tunnel area. Photo: Israeli Army

The tunnel, which the military said was 700 meters long and 18 meters deep, revealed side rooms. There was an office space with steel safes that had been opened and emptied. There was a tiled toilet. One large room was filled with servers, another with industrial battery cells.

“Everything is conducted from here. All the power for the tunnels you go through is supplied from here,” Lieutenant Colonel Ido said. “This is one of the central command centers of intelligence. This is one of Hamas’s intelligence units, where they commanded most of the fighting.”

But Ido said Hamas appeared to have evacuated ahead of the Israeli advance, cutting communications cables. It appears that Israel’s heavy roadblocks and persistent winter rains may have also contributed to the tunnel’s abandonment: Some sections of the tunnel were clogged with loose sand and knee-high water.

The corridor leading into the narrow tunnel area. Photo: Israeli Army

A room containing working equipment in the tunnel area. Photo: Israeli Army

Another room in the tunnel area. Photo: Israeli Army

In a statement, UNRWA said it had vacated its headquarters on 12 October, five days after the fighting began. "UNRWA... does not have the military and security expertise nor the capacity to conduct military inspections of what is or may be in its premises," the statement said.

Supporters of UNRWA say it is the only agency capable of assisting Palestinians in their deepening humanitarian suffering. Israel says the agency has been “tainted” by Hamas and must be replaced.

"We know that they (Hamas) have people working at UNRWA. We want every international organization to work in Gaza. That is not the problem. Our problem is Hamas," Ido told reporters.

Hoang Anh (according to Reuters, AJ)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/israel-phat-hien-duong-ham-hamas-duoi-tru-so-cuu-tro-cua-lien-hop-quoc-o-gaza-post284241.html