The Israeli military says it has discovered tunnels underneath the main headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City, alleging that Hamas militants used the space as an electrical supply room.
The unveiling of the tunnels marked the latest chapter in Israel’s campaign against the embattled agency, which it accuses of collaborating with Hamas.
Recent Israeli allegations that a dozen staff members participated in the Hamas attack on Israel Oct. 7 plunged the agency into a financial crisis, prompting major donor states to suspend their funding as well as twin investigations. The agency says that Israel has also frozen its bank account, embargoed aid shipments and canceled its tax benefits.
The army invited journalists to view the tunnel on Thursday.
The Israelis also claimed there was a Hamas base under a cemetery, but their claims about the location were disproven by CNN*: entrances weren’t where the Israelis said they were, and tunnels didn’t run where the Israelis said they did. Just briefly glancing at this article, I see that the reporters did not or were not given the opportunity to verify several Israeli claims, including
I’d like to see more evidence before believing Israel here. Especially since they haven’t shown the ‘UNWRA staff participated in the October attacks’ evidence to the UN or several other countries.
* Israel claims a tunnel ran through this Gaza cemetery it destroyed. A visit to the site raised more questions than answers. Or if you prefer video: IDF says they destroyed this Gaza graveyard because of Hamas activity. CNN can’t find the evidence.