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.

  • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    I’ll argue you on the damning part.

    If someone illegally, and without your consent, taps into your power lines and steals electricity to run say, a weed grow operation, are you suddenly now affiliated with that drug ring? No, of course not, you weren’t involved and are also a victim

    If however you allowed that to happen, that’s a different story. The IDF has a high burden of proof to clear here, especially after their big claims of Al-Shifa and the cemetery fell flat

    • Arete@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      9 months ago

      Sure agreed if they didn’t know, but it seems like there was at least a Hamas cell inside the UNRWA that did:

      Inside one of the UNRWA buildings, journalists saw a room full of computers with wires stretching down into the ground. Soldiers then showed them a room in the underground tunnel where they claimed the wires connected.

      • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        My paint remains though - the wires might be linked from the building to the tunnel, but it’s a jump to say the UNRWA is complicit instead of a victim

        • Arete@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          9 months ago

          Well to use your analogy here, let’s say a weed grow operation steals your electricity by plugging extension cords into several outlets and running them through open windows. Further let’s say this goes on for years with you living in the house. At a certain point it strains credulity to believe that you aren’t in on it.

          Something similar seems to have happened here. It doesn’t implicate the UNRWA as a whole, but it certainly raises questions about the employees at this location.