Funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian school children in Gaza should be withheld until Hamas refuses to allow international inspections of attack tunnels found near those educational institutions, the United Nations said. Israel’s ambassador to the nation, Gilad Erden, said on Wednesday.
“The United Nations cannot allow its own schools and buildings to be used as a sanctuary for terrorists and terrorist activities,” Erdn said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The United Nations sent a team from its Mine Action Service (UNMAS) to inspect the area of tunnels by schools, which is expected to serve about 4,000 students when they open later this month.
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Arden called on Guterres and “all relevant UN bodies to condemn Hamas and halt all funding of UNRWA’s facilities in Gaza and its use until a fully independent investigation into Hamas’s use and abuse of these institutions is completed.” invoked. of terror.”
Asked about the issue at a briefing in New York, however, Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UNRWA schools should be violence-free.
“It is important for every UN compound anywhere in the world to be free of any weapons or anything that would endanger that base.”
UNRWA itself condemns the construction of tunnels in its schools and the control of its facilities by “real” authorities in Gaza, but did not name Hamas as the culprit.
It demanded that UNMAS be allowed to inspect its schools.
UNRWA said that “preliminary risk assessments indicated the existence of underground structures that could cause further damage.”
It condemned the construction and use of the tunnels and said it had written complaint letters to the de facto Gaza authorities.
“The agency also opposes the takeover by genuine authorities of one of these schools, which undermines the violence and neutrality of the UNRWA campus,” UNRWA said.
“These actions compromise the safe return of children to their schools and thwart the agency’s efforts to open schools on time,” it said.