© Reuters. An Israeli soldier stands in what the navy described as a Hamas command tunnel working partly beneath UNRWA headquarters, amid the continued battle between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, within the Gaza Strip, February 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dyl
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By Dylan Martinez
GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli forces have found a tunnel community tons of of metres (yards) lengthy and working partly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters, the navy says, calling it new proof of Hamas exploitation of the principle reduction company for Palestinians.
Military engineers took reporters for overseas information shops by the passages at a time of disaster for UNRWA, which has launched an inside probe and seen a string of donor international locations freeze funding over allegations final month by Israel that a few of its workers doubled as Hamas operatives.
The Palestinians have accused Israel of falsifying data to tarnish UNRWA, which employs 13,000 folks within the Gaza Strip and has been a lifeline for the aid-dependent inhabitants for years. The company runs colleges, major healthcare clinics and different social companies, and distributes support, describing its actions as purely humanitarian.
UNRWA Headquarters is in Gaza Metropolis, amongst northern areas that Israeli troops and tanks overran early within the four-month-old warfare towards the governing Islamist faction Hamas, sending tons of of hundreds of civilians fleeing southward.
Reporters on the intently escorted journey entered a shaft subsequent to a college on the periphery of the U.N. compound, descending to the concrete-lined tunnel. Twenty minutes of strolling by the stifling scorching, slim and sometimes winding passage introduced them beneath UNRWA Headquarters, a military lieutenant-colonel main the tour stated.
The tunnel, which the navy stated was 700 metres lengthy and 18 metres deep, bifurcated at instances, revealing side-rooms. There was an workplace area, with metal safes that had been opened and emptied. There was a tiled bathroom. One massive chamber was full of pc servers, one other with industrial battery stacks.
“Every part is performed from right here. All of the power for the tunnels, which you walked by them are powered from right here,” stated the lieutenant-colonel, who gave solely his first title, Ido.
“This is without doubt one of the central instructions of the intelligence. This place is without doubt one of the Hamas intelligence items, the place they commanded a lot of the fight.”
However Ido stated Hamas appeared to have evacuated within the face of the Israeli advance, preemptively chopping off communications cables that, in an above-ground a part of the tour, he confirmed working by the ground of the UNRWA Headquarters’ basement.
It appeared that heavy Israeli barrages and sustained winter rains may have performed a component within the departure: A number of stretches of the tunnel had been clogged with dislodged sand and knee-high water.
In an announcement, UNRWA stated it had vacated the headquarters on Oct. 12, 5 days after the warfare started, and was subsequently “unable to substantiate or in any other case remark” on the Israeli discovering.
“UNRWA … doesn’t have the navy and safety experience nor the capability to undertake navy inspections of what’s or is likely to be beneath its premises,” the assertion stated.
“Prior to now, every time (a) suspicious cavity was discovered near or beneath UNRWA premises, protest letters had been promptly filed to events to the battle, together with each the de facto authorities in Gaza (Hamas) and the Israeli authorities.”
UNRWA’s supporters say it’s the solely company with the technique of aiding Palestinians in deepening humanitarian misery. Israel says the company is “perforated by Hamas” and have to be changed. Hamas has denied working in civilian amenities.
“We all know that they (Hamas) have folks working in UNRWA. We wish each worldwide group to work in Gaza. That isn’t an issue. Our drawback is the Hamas,” Ido instructed reporters.
Lack of cellphone reception within the tunnel made geolocating it as beneath UNRWA Headquarters not possible. As an alternative, reporters had been requested to place private gadgets in a bucket that was lowered by rope right into a vertical gap on the grounds of the headquarters. They had been reunited with the still-tethered gadgets in the course of the tunnel tour.
As a situation of taking journalists on the journey, the Israeli navy didn’t enable pictures of navy intelligence reminiscent of maps or sure tools within the convoy of armoured automobiles they traveled in. It additionally requested approval earlier than transmission of pictures and video footage taken on the journey.