Military engineers took foreign journalists through the tunnels as UNRWA conducts an internal investigation into allegations that some local members are Hamas militants, a case that has led several countries to cut off aid to the UN agency 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.
Reporters on the heavily escorted tour entered a tunnel next to a school on the outskirts of the area, descending into a concrete-lined tunnel. A 20-minute walk through a hot, narrow and sometimes suffocatingly winding passageway brought them beneath the UNRWA headquarters, said an army lieutenant colonel leading the tour.
Israeli troops enter a small passageway into the tunnel area. Photo: Israeli Army
The tunnel, which the military said was 700 metres long and 18 metres deep, revealed side rooms. There was an office space with steel safes that had been opened and emptied. There was a tiled toilet. A large chamber was filled with servers, another with industrial battery cells.
“Everything is run from here. All the power for the tunnels you go through is powered from here,” said Lt. Col. Ido. “This is one of the central intelligence headquarters. This is one of the Hamas intelligence units, where they command 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 played a role in 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 October 12, 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.
UNRWA supporters 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)
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