Israel strikes terrorists hiding in UN school
Israeli jets struck several Hamas terrorists using a United Nations school in the central Gaza town of Nuseirat, the Israel Defence Forces confirmed on Sunday.
Palestinians protest outside the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Gaza headquarters in Gaza City on June 20, 2023. Photo by Majdi Fathi/TPS
According to the army, Hamas used the Abu Oraiban School as a hideout and as a point to direct and launch attacks on Israeli soldiers.
The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law, exploiting civilian structures and population as human shields for its terror attacks against the State of Israel,” the army said.
Steps were taken to mitigate the risk of collateral damage to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and other intelligence measures.
The Abu Oraiban school is operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency.
The UNRWA, which supports Palestinian refugees, has been under fire for months, with Israeli officials demanding the agency be stripped of its authority in Gaza and defunded amid revelations that members of the agency’s staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attacks. The Israeli government is bypassing UNRWA in distributing humanitarian aid. The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee recently advanced legislation designating UNRWA as a “terror organization,” stripping the agency of its diplomatic immunity, tax-exempt status, and other legal benefits.
Israel’s largest bank froze UNRWA’s account in February over suspicious financial transfers that the agency failed to adequately explain. That same month, Israeli forces discovered a Hamas complex located directly under the UNRWA’s Gaza City headquarters and connected directly to the agency’s electricity system. The facility included numerous computer servers belonging to the terror group.
More than 100 survivors of Hamas’s October 7 attacks filed a $1 billion lawsuit against UNRWA, accusing the agency of “aiding and abetting” the terror group.
The Israel Lands Authority in May ordered UNRWA to vacate its Jerusalem offices over violations of its lease.
Palestinian refugees are the only refugee population with its own dedicated UN agency. The rest of the world’s refugees fall under the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Israeli officials have called for UNRWA to be closed and for Palestinian refugees to be brought under the responsibility of the UNHCR.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 116 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed dead.
