Dave Bender
In the second case in a week, the UN Agency responsible for
Palestinians admitted that its staff had discovered rockets hidden in
their schools in the Gaza Strip.
“Today, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises,
UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
in the Near East), discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the
Gaza Strip,” the agency said in a statement Tuesday evening.
“As soon as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn
from the premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of
rockets. The school is situated between two other UNRWA schools that
currently each accommodate 1,500 internally displaced persons,” the
organization said.
UNRWA said it “strongly and unequivocally condemns the group or
groups responsible for this flagrant violation of the inviolability of
its premises under international law,” but did not name any Palestinian
entities, like Hamas, which rules the coastal enclave.
“The Agency immediately informed the relevant parties and is pursuing
all possible measures for the removal of the objects in order to
preserve the safety and security of the school. UNRWA will launch a
comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding this
incident,” the agency said.
The statement is almost identical to one released after the last
hidden rockets case, when the organization found 20 rockets in another
Gaza educational facility on July 16th, in the midst of fighting in
Operation Protective Edge.
A day later, Israel’s UN Ambassador said he was certain that more such facilities housed Hamas weaponry.
“Yesterday, UNRWA admitted that it mysteriously found 20 missiles in
one of its schools,” Ambassador Ron Prosor said on Friday in an
emergency Security Council session on Gaza.
“I’m sure that if UNRWA takes the time to check its other facilities,
it will discover that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Hamas is
using UN facilities to commit a double war crime by targeting Israeli
civilians while hiding behind Palestinian civilians.”
Comment: Will they give them back to Hamas like they did earlier? Are there more such events? What outrage, if any, is forthcoming and from whom?
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