COGAT: ‘UNRWA is simply trying to evade responsibility’

Major General Ghassan Alian, head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) tweeted on Monday to express harsh criticism of the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, who professed himself shocked by the IDF attacks on the agency’s compounds in the Gaza Strip.

“These are the things that should shock you,” Alian began. “You allowed Hamas to develop a terrorist infrastructure almost in all the agency’s facilities, and paid for years to Hamas terrorists who are employed in the UNRWA agency.”

“Hamas stole your fuel and equipment over the years, and worst of all, even after we informed you of Hamas’s deep involvement in UNRWA prior to October 7th, you did nothing with all that information,” he accused.

“That is what is shocking. All your other statements are just an attempt to evade your own and the organization’s responsibility,” Alian concluded.

Earlier on Monday, IDF forces completed another raid in Gaza City, focusing on a humanitarian complex run by UNRWA.

The activity took place between the Al-Sabra neighborhood and Tel Al-Hawa. The commando brigade that raided the complex found renewed workshops for the production of UAVs and many weapons.

They also found a recruitment office for terror operatives and rockets and explosive devices hidden in food warehouses.

The humanitarian complex was taken by Hamas and turned into food warehouses. Hamas used the warehosues to distribute food to the displaced and thus gained control over the area.

IDF finds Hamas rebuilds military capabilities in UNRWA HQ

IDF forces operating in a compound used as the headquarters of UNRWA in Gaza, found Hamas had rebuilt its military capabilities in the six months since troops withdrew from the area. In the compound that was housing displaced civilians, the soldiers found workshops for the production of UAVs and other weapons, as well as rockets and explosives. Military commando units operated in the compound for the past week Over the past week.

Situated between the Al-Sabra neighborhood and Tel al-Hawa in the northern part of the strip, the complex included a terrorist recruitment office and food warehouses. These warehouses, meant for humanitarian aid, were found storing rockets and explosive devices. Hamas-controlled food distribution lines were handing out vouchers to thousands of displaced Gazans daily.

Within the warehouse complex near the university, the fighters discovered large UAVs that Hamas had constructed over recent months. The area showed clear signs of military recovery. Hamas had placed military-grade explosive devices, built observation posts and a forward command post (FCP) for managing the complex.

The commanders involved in the operation reported encountering combined attacks that didn’t strictly follow guerrilla warfare norms. These included a synchronized use of explosives with mortar fire and the deployment of snipers and anti-tank missile squads.
“Hamas still has squad, platoon, and company commanders, and it operates in a different manner—more guerrilla-like and less as a full military framework,” an IDF spokesperson said. “This requires us to adapt and identify the advantages and disadvantages of this transformation. Hamas is trying to replenish its ranks, so we operate repeatedly in these areas based on precise intelligence that allows focused action. It will take time to destroy this enemy.”
The New York Times published a report on Hamas’ combat methods in Gaza, which heavily rely on guerrilla tactics and blending into the civilian population. The investigation, based on the analysis of Hamas battle videos and interviews with both Hamas fighters and IDF soldiers, paints a picture of a systematic exploitation of civilians and civilian infrastructure for military purposes. the Times accused Hamas of perpetuating the conflict, destruction, death, and displacement of civilians in the strip.

 

תיעוד מפעילות כוחות צה"ל דרום ובמרכז רצועת עזה
IDF uncovering munitions (Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

According to the investigation, Hamas utilizes an extensive tunnel system stretching hundreds of kilometers, whose scale surprised IDF commanders. These tunnels facilitate the movement of fighters and weapons across the strip without exposing them to Israeli forces. Hamas also hides militants, tunnel entrances, and ammunition depots in residential homes, medical facilities, UN offices, and mosques, further blurring the lines between civilians and combatants, the New York Times wrote in its report.

IDF strikes terrorists who operated in UNRWA school in Nuseirat

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced on Tuesday afternoon that, based on precise IDF and ISA intelligence, the IAF struck terrorists who were operating in a UNRWA school in the area of Nuseirat.

The terrorists planned and directed numerous attacks against IDF troops in the Gaza Strip.

Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance, precise munitions, and additional intelligence.

The IDF stated, “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.”

Furthermore, the IAF struck a company commander in the Islamic Jihad’s Naval Unit in western Khan Younis.

“We are looking into the reports stating that several civilians were injured as a result of the strike. The details are under review,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

IDF attacks terrorists in UNRWA complex in Gaza

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported on Thursday that forces “struck a number of Hamas terrorists who operated in Hamas terror infrastructure in the area of Zeytoun. The terror infrastructure was used as the headquarters of Hamas’ Gaza City Brigade and as a UNRWA complex.”

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance, precise munitions, and additional intelligence,” the IDF added.

IDF Bombs UNRWA School in Nuseirat, Eliminates 20 Terrorists

Nuseirat, in central Gaza, where four living Israeli hostages were rescued by IDF special forces on June 8, 2024

Based on precise IDF and ISA intelligence, the Israel Air Force struck terrorists Tuesday afternoon as they were operating in a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the central Gaza town of Nuseirat.

The terrorists planned and directed numerous attacks against IDF troops in the Gaza Strip.

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken in order to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance, precise munitions, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said.

“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 IAF also eliminated a Palestinian Islamic Jihad company commander in the terrorist organization’s Naval Unit in western Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

“We are looking into the reports stating that several civilians were injured as a result of the strike,” the IDF said. “The details are under review.”

Hamas use of UNRWA facilities is more than a tactic

Children experimenting with means of warfare alongside operatives of the terrorist organization Hamas (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)

The discovery that Hamas was using the headquarters of UNRWA in Gaza to recruit new members and also to store rockets and explosives as well as drones illustrates how the use of UN facilities is a key strategy of Hamas.

While this was likely hinted at before, due to the number of times the terrorist group’s members have been located in UN schools, for instance, the fact they targeted the agency’s headquarters shows how blatant this strategy has become.

It’s reasonable to conclude that Hamas views UN facilities as part of its command and control of Gaza. It basically mapped out these facilities and used them openly. It has used them systematically throughout the war.

The fact that the UN and UNRWA, in particular, have not condemned Hamas for this or put out statements daily mentioning how Hamas uses their facilities must raise questions about what the UN organizations know and when they found out.

There is no other terrorist or “armed group” in the world that has systematically used UN facilities the way Hamas has done in Gaza. The systematic use of schools, for instance, is a serious crime by Hamas against the people of Gaza. The need to remove it from these facilities is clear. Yet, throughout nine months of fighting, the terrorist group has increasingly used UN facilities and has not decreased their use.

The story of the Hamas exploitation of the UNRWA headquarters is symbolic. The complex is located in northern Gaza in Tel al-Hawa. The IDF found explosive devices and also a drone at the site. More concerning are the reports that it used this facility to recruit and rebuild itself. What this means is that Hamas viewed the UN site not only as a place to hide weapons and hide its fighters but also as a key part of its nexus in northern Gaza.

It viewed the UN facility as a unique place to be used to return to power. The fact that the UN did not condemn this or note it in statements is concerning.

Hamas use of hospitals as key command centers

THIS IS a reminder that when Hamas first sought to return to northern Gaza, it gathered hundreds of men in Shifa Hospital. Israeli forces raided the hospital in March, detaining hundreds of terrorists and killing others who fired on the IDF.

Hamas saw Shifa not just as a place to send a few men to hide but to bring hundreds of terrorists. Perhaps 1,000 Hamas terrorists were gathered in the large hospital compound and buildings nearby. This means that Hamas saw the hospital as key to its command and control of Gaza.

When the hospital was partly destroyed in March, and the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members were removed, they didn’t disappear entirely. Hamas then moved into the UNRWA headquarters. It must have been believed in April and May that using the UN facility would enable it to return to power in northern Gaza.

It did not suspect that the IDF would return to operate there in the second week of July. Now, the second raid into this UN facility is completed. The military had operated in this area earlier in the year.

It’s important to see Hamas’s use of the UNRWA facility and Shifa as part of a larger context. It is not just by chance that Hamas moves into these places like it is a second Hamas. Its presence is considered normal in these places because Hamas is seen as the norm, as the “governing authority” by the UN and NGOs that never mention it by name in statements.

They usually call it an “armed group.” But the armed group sends men in civilian clothes through the doors of these facilities, and no one bars their way. This is because they are perceived either as welcome guests, partners, or as a mafia-like presence that the organizations cannot say no to.

Whatever the case, the fact that Hamas feels so secure in moving from the largest hospital in Gaza to the UNRWA headquarters and on to other places that should be protected for civilians illustrates the Hamas system in Gaza. This is not a rabble of Hamas men in civilian clothes who have been defeated. This is a system and part of how the terrorist group is planning to run Gaza in the future.

While it is being debated whether Hamas’s Gaza military leader Muhammed Deif was killed and what impact this may have on it, the use of the UN facilities and hospitals illustrates that the terrorist group has a long-standing plan and method that it is using to retain control of the embattled coastal enclave.

The IDF raids may set Hamas back a month or two here and there. However, the lesson of Shifa and the UNRWA headquarters is that the group returns in a month and begins setting up shop and recruiting and storing arms again.

Hamas is prepared for the long haul. It remains to be seen what its next strategic command and control node will become in northern Gaza. It has already brought ruin to the main hospital and main UNRWA facility. But Hamas has a map of other hospitals and UN facilities that form part of how it runs Gaza, and it is likely that it will move into these places as well.

Target Qatar

The Arab country of Qatar remains accountable for the fate of the hostages kidnapped from Israel.

The time has come for people to  conduct acts of civil disobedience which target  the diplomatic missions of Qatar

Adrift

All signs point to democratic societies and countries having no idea of what should be done to thwart impending chaos.

The multi-million dollar pier constructed by the Americans on the coast of Gaza is symbolic of the physical and moral drift now sweeping the globe.

Erected amidst much fanfare and launched with grandiose promises of facilitating aid, this so called wondrous piece of engineering disintegrated in the face of rough seas. It became unmoored with some parts floating off and ending up on the beach of southern Israel. Patched together several times it defied all efforts to remain anchored and has now been permanently dismantled.

This farcical exercise not only highlights the USA’s current incompetence but also symbolizes the extent to which the so-called leader of the “free and democratic” world is totally adrift when it comes to confronting the critical challenges menacing all freedom-loving people at present.

As Washington flounders and flails over Israel and the Ukraine one must wonder what is in store for Taiwan and South Korea. The toxic mix of incompetence,  White House elder abuse and deranged anti-Trump syndromes now on full display in the USA has already yielded its inevitable crop of violence. No wonder the Russians, Chinese, North Koreans and Iranians are plotting their next assaults on democracy and human rights.

The continuing obsession with Israel is a stark contrast to a lack of strong response to naked aggression in other parts of the world.

Did anyone by any chance notice that at the emergency session of the UN Security Council after a Russian missile hit the Ukrainian children’s hospital it was the Russian ambassador who chaired this gathering? After the usual venting of outrage by other countries and denial of culpability by the Russians did any meaningful action follow?

Has anyone noticed mass demonstrations at universities by outraged mobs over this targeting of child cancer patients?

How many of those currently defacing buildings and screaming anti Israel and anti Jewish slogans are demanding sanctions against Russia?

Has anyone heard threats by the UN Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice to indict those responsible?

There has been a shameful silence, apart from an initial expression of alarm by some democracies.

Contrast all this with the continual daily frenzy and obsession over Israel’s campaign to defeat Hamas and its murderous allies. Daily missile barrages from Hezbollah merely elicit dire warnings should Israel dare to contemplate any sort of retaliation.

The British Foreign Secretary has just paid an official visit to Israel as well as making a pilgrimage to Ramallah where he assured Abbas of the United Kingdom’s undying support for the establishment of a terror supporting state in Israel’s heartland.

True to form and acting as though the British are still the mandatory power, the Foreign Minister demanded that Israel cease the war against Hamas terror and stop “settlements” including in the eastern part of our Capital. For good measure he also warned Israel not to react in any meaningful manner against the daily missile attacks from Lebanon.

The extent to which the USA, UK, France and other democracies have drifted from any sort of rational response to lethal aggression can be deduced by comparing their appeasement with pre 1939 policies. Those who counseled Churchill to surrender to Nazi terror learnt that this was not going to happen. President Roosevelt never had the chutzpah to tell Churchill that if he fought back he would be on his own. The USA may have been late in helping but eventually, almost too late, they did. Contrast that with Biden’s reported response to Netanyahu that if Israel dares to retaliate against Iranian plans to eradicate it, the USA will bail out and Israel will be on its own.

Anything more adrift would be hard to imagine.

It has been reported that USAID is sending another US$100 million to the Palestinian Arabs. Has anyone heard a demand that Abbas and his kleptomaniac colleagues immediately cease paying millions to murderers of Israelis and life long stipends to incarcerated terrorists and their families?

Amidst all the hot air over a “reformed and revitalized” Palestinian Authority these terror payments never feature.

Israel is commanded to accede to the creation of Palestine which miraculously will turn out to be a model democracy, respecting human rights and exuding tolerance of faiths other than Islam. No such Arab entity exists and as the daily outpouring of hate from Ramallah proves, it makes a mockery of any “reformed” PLO/Fatah/PA governance. Moreover, as the Communist Chinese are working overtime trying to unite Hamas and the PA the prognosis is the opposite of what the snake oil salespeople are trying to sell.

A report from World Israel News (WIN) exposes the thinking of radical Islam and what can be expected as jihadist radicals gain more control not only in the Middle East but also in Europe, the UK and indeed elsewhere. An Imam in Europe, in an address to the faithful, explained in very clear language what can be expected.

“The law of Allah is superior to your laws. Sharia law is the ruling law on earth whereas democracy is a man made legal system and therefore invalid.”

This definition of democracy has already become the accepted dogma in many Arab countries. How long will it take for it to swamp the electoral process in western countries? Based on current trends and pathetically weak woke responses on display the inevitable surrender will not take too long.

In France, Jews are faced with the haters of the extreme left, a gutless center and unlikely supporters of Israel on the extreme right. The country has already been lost to jihadist violence and intimidation of Jews and it is doubtful if viable Jewish communities will in the not too distant future be able to flourish again.

Scandinavia is not far behind with the majority of Swedish Jews in Malmo already hounded out of that city and Norway embracing Hamas and anti Israel rhetoric.

German Jews face increasing Islamic violence as well as a growing antipathy from leftist haters and recycled fascist fanatics.

As the American election frenzy heats up, Jews in the once “goldene medina” face unpalatable choices. In a system which gives only two political parties any chance of success, Jews are faced with some conflicting choices.

The majority of Jews have always voted for the Democratic Party even though it was this party which represented the segregationists in the south. Today it is slowly but surely being taken over by progressive extreme left supporters of Islamic terror and knee jerk deniers of Jewish sovereignty in their ancient homeland. Some genetic Jewish Democrats still venerate FDR even though his administration barred Jews fleeing Nazi Europe from entering the USA.

The Republicans have a troubling history of isolationism and flirting with extreme right conspiracy nut cases. However, times have changed and these days this party is pro Israel and anti terror.

This week Joe Biden proudly declared “I am a Zionist.”

He then added that “I have done more for the Palestinians than anyone else. I have given Israel only defensive weapons and banned offensive weapons.”

Trying to bolster his “Zionist” credentials Biden went on to claim that “if it wasn’t for Israel every Jew in the world would be at risk. After World War Two it was important for Jews to have a place that was their own.”

Prospective Jewish voters need to ask him the following questions:

How has doing more for the fake Palestinians brought peace any closer?

Have Iranian genocidal aims made Jews safer by denying Israel certain weapons?

What sort of a Zionist are you when your administration released millions of dollars to the Iranian regime? Why have you made it clear that Israel cannot count on American support if it takes out Hezbollah and Iran?

Finally but very importantly what sort of a Zionist are you when you fail to acknowledge the three thousand year connection between Jews and the Land of Israel? Having a place of their own is precisely because of Jewish historical reality and not because the UN had a guilty conscience.

If ever one needed a more glaring example of being adrift this is it.

Israel identifies 100 UNRWA employees who work as ‘terrorist operatives’, asks for their dismissal

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is employing 100 terrorist operatives and directly asked the organization to terminate the staffers immediately.

In the July 4 letter, which was obtained by Fox News Digital, Ambassador Amir Weissbrod wrote that the presence of Hamas terrorists in UNRWA has been a “recurring concern” for Israeli officials.

“However, the full scope of this unprecedented infiltration was unknown and became clear only after the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel, in which, as you know, UNRWA employees actively participated,” Weissbrod said.

“In recent months Israel has discovered that hundreds of terrorists, members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have been employed by UNRWA in the Gaza Strip, some of them holding high-ranking positions in UNRWA or in Hamas.”

The ambassador added that the intent of his letter was to share “some additional information on this matter,” and proceeded to identify the employees associated with Hamas.

“Please find attached a document containing 100 names and IDs of terrorist operatives who are currently employed by UNRWA-Gaza,” Weissbrod wrote. “This list includes their military IDs as well.”

The official added that the list contains a “small fraction” of terrorist operatives employed by UNRWA, and that the names of more employees will be sent in the future.

“Israel expects from you and your organization to immediately terminate the employment of any member of Hamas or PIJ…their work in UNRWA poses a security risk for Israel, and represents a breach of the principle of neutrality as was mentioned in Ms. Colonna’s report,” Weissbrod added.

“This list will also be provided to major UNRWA donors.”

The Israeli government has repeatedly released photographs, video and documents proving that Hamas terrorists have worked within the UNRWA, and the agency has previously accepted the authenticity of the information. In January, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini announced that he had fired UNRWA staff members that were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks.

However, Lazzarini has also recently pushed back against Israeli criticism of his organization. During a meeting at the U.N. in Geneva, he said that the UNRWA was “staggering under the weight of relentless attacks.”

“Israel has long been critical of the agency’s mandate. But it now seeks to end UNRWA’s operations, dismissing the agency’s status as a United Nations entity supported by an overwhelming majority of member states,” he said. “If we do not push back, other U.N. entities and international organizations will be next, further undermining our multilateral system.”

Fox News Digital reached out to UNRWA for a statement but did not immediately hear back.

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