DId Hamas Hide Terror Tunnel Under UN Schools In Gaza?
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Israel filed an official protest against Hamas at the United Nations Security Council after a terrorist tunnel was discovered under two United Nations schools in Gaza.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon submitted the letter of protest to the United Nations Security Council, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The tunnel, first reported on Friday, was discovered by workers for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East , or UNRWA, on June 1 under two schools.
Israel called on the Security Council to condemn Hamas and to include Hamas on its list of designated terror organizations. Both Israel and the United States recognize Hamas as a terror organization. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip ten years ago.
Hamas has denied building the tunnel. It also said that it had asked other terror groups in the area if they were responsible for the tunnel and the groups also denied creating the tunnel.
The UNRWA “condemns the existence of such tunnels in the strongest possible terms. It is unacceptable that students and staff are placed at risk in such a way,” Agency spokesman Christopher Gunness said Friday. He added that the tunnel “has no entry or exit points on the premises nor is it connected to the schools or other buildings in any way.”
The tunnel will be sealed by the UNRWA. School is currently out for the summer.
Hamas built tunnels under Gaza into Israel and Egypt to be used to smuggle food and water, and to be used to kidnap Israeli soldiers into Gaza.
At the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the discovery of the tunnel, calling it a “war crime.”
“A Hamas tunnel has recently been discovered under two schools in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is using schoolchildren as human shields and this is the enemy that we have been fighting against for many years, an enemy that is committing a twofold war crime. On the one hand, it first attacks innocent civilians and then hides behind children,” Netanyahu said.
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