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By Dylan Martinez
GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli forces have found a tunnel community a whole lot of metres (yards) lengthy and working partly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters, the army says, calling it new proof of Hamas exploitation of the primary aid company for Palestinians.
Military engineers took reporters for overseas information retailers by way of the passages at a time of disaster for UNRWA, which has launched an inner probe and seen a string of donor nations 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 faculties, major healthcare clinics and different social providers, and distributes help, 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 battle towards the governing Islamist faction Hamas, sending a whole lot of hundreds of civilians fleeing southward.
Reporters on the carefully 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 way of the stifling scorching, slender and sometimes winding passage introduced them beneath UNRWA Headquarters, a military lieutenant-colonel main the tour mentioned.
The tunnel, which the army mentioned was 700 metres lengthy and 18 metres deep, bifurcated at instances, revealing side-rooms. There was an workplace house, with metal safes that had been opened and emptied. There was a tiled bathroom. One giant chamber was filled with pc servers, one other with industrial battery stacks.
“Every thing is performed from right here. All of the vitality for the tunnels, which you walked by way of them are powered from right here,” mentioned 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 models, the place they commanded many of the fight.”
However Ido mentioned 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 way of the ground of the UNRWA Headquarters’ basement.
It appeared that heavy Israeli barrages and sustained winter rains can also 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 a press release, UNRWA mentioned it had vacated the headquarters on Oct. 12, 5 days after the battle started, and was due to this fact “unable to substantiate or in any other case remark” on the Israeli discovering.
“UNRWA … doesn’t have the army and safety experience nor the capability to undertake army inspections of what’s or is likely to be beneath its premises,” the assertion mentioned.
“Prior to now, each 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 should 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 downside is the Hamas,” Ido advised reporters.
Lack of cellphone reception within the tunnel made geolocating it as beneath UNRWA Headquarters unimaginable. 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 throughout the tunnel tour.
As a situation of taking journalists on the journey, the Israeli army didn’t permit images of army intelligence equivalent to maps or sure tools within the convoy of armoured automobiles they traveled in. It additionally requested approval earlier than transmission of images and video footage taken on the journey.
(Writing by Dan Williams; Enhancing by Frances Kerry)
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