Israel unveils tunnels underneath Gaza City headquarters of UN agency for Palestinian refugees

World News@lemmy.world – 118 points – 5 months ago

Israel unveils tunnels underneath Gaza City headquarters of UN agency for Palestinian refugees

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.

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Multiple countries blindly trusting Isreal isn't exactly a good thing.

But multiple countries believing in reality and their intelligence agencies is a good thing.

Only if you think reality == Isreali Intel.

Each intelligence agency makes their own evaluation, but nice try.

Except they literally didn't in this case.

https://web.archive.org/web/20240131171342/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/30/unrwa-gaza-israel-aid/

The United States has not independently verified Israel’s claims, which are based on intercepted communications, phone location data, interrogations of Hamas fighters and documents that the Israeli military has recovered in Gaza, officials said. The Washington Post reviewed a document containing the names, U.N. positions and alleged Hamas roles of the 12 individuals, which were shared with the United States and other governments, but has been unable to corroborate the information.

The evidence Israel has privately presented persuaded the United States and eight other country donors to pause funding for UNRWA, a decision that other aid groups have warned imperils the safety and welfare of Gaza civilians who depend on U.N. relief and assistance. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Israeli information “highly credible.”

US officials say that funding will depend on a credible investigation and acknowledge that there is no real alternative to UNRWA. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said "Let’s not impugn the good work of a whole agency because of the potential bad action here of a small number".

All* , Each intelligence agency writes their own report, from all sources available, gives it a degree of confidence and sends it to the decision maker. I very much doubt that Israeli intelligence was the only thing used.