Israel Reveals Tunnel Network Discovered Under UNRWA HQ
The Israel Defense Forces brought a cadre of international journalists to the destroyed headquarters of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Saturday to present what it claims are tunnels underneath the building previously utilized by Hamas.
The Israeli military alleges that the terror group used the subterranean area as an electrical supply room, and power was provided directly by the UNRWA compound.
Located in war-torn Gaza City, the attending journalists were initially invited to view the site last Thursday.
Upon viewing the tunnel and its accompanying rooms, journalists at the scene noted seeing a room blanketed with electrical cabinets hosting varied buttons and cables. Above ground, inside one of the agency buildings, IDF liaisons led the reporters to a computer room with wires traveling into the ground. It was asserted that the wires in the above-ground room were directly connected to the room inside the tunnel.
While the IDF presentation did not conclusively confirm that Hamas used the space, it was apparent that at least a part of the tunnel ran beneath the UNRWA compound, according to an Associated Press report.
UNRWA has come under increasing international scrutiny in recent weeks after Israeli officials publicized allegations that about a dozen of the aid agency’s staff were directly involved with the October 7 terror attack. Israel has maintained that the humanitarian organization cooperates with and provides cover to Hamas. The seriousness of the allegations prompted many of the agency’s largest international donors, namely countries like Canada, Germany, and the United States, to fully pause new funding in response.
Responding to the tunnel’s discovery, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini publicly stated that the organization was entirely unfamiliar with the facility’s underground but that the revelation warrants an “independent inquiry.”
The agency, however, is unable to execute such an investigation due to the war, Lazzarini added.
