5 months ago
26
TEL AVIV: The Israeli military released photos and footage of
Palestinian gunmen
inside a
UNRWA logistics facility
in eastern Rafah alongside UN vehicles.
Footage released by the
Israel Defence Forces
showed several terrorists milling around UN vehicles arriving at the compound. The IDF said at one point, it detected one of the gunmen firing at civilians.
The warehouse compound in question is a central point for distributing humanitarian aid in the Rafah area.
"Gunmen, likely Hamas terrorists, hanging out at UNRWA warehouse in eastern Rafah a few days ago and identified by an IDF drone," spokesperson Lieutenant colonel (retired) Peter Lerner wrote on X, formerly called Twitter. "The UN needs to answer some serious questions. Imagine what would've happened if we were to target them? The hypocrisy is astounding."
Following the incident, representatives of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) conveyed the findings to senior officials in the international community and called on the UN to urgently investigate the incident. COGAT is a unit within the Defense Ministry responsible for overseeing humanitarian aid deliveries.
Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side of Gaza's border with Egypt, including the Rafah border crossing, on May 7 in a move making it harder for Hamas to hijack humanitarian aid trucks arriving from Egypt.
In a related development, an Israeli airstrike killed 15 terrorists inside a Hamas war room located in a UNRWA school compound in the central Gaza area of Nuseirat. Among the 15 killed were members of Hamas's elite Nukhba force, which played a leading role in the October 7 attacks on Israeli communities.
At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Around 30 of the remaining 132 hostages are believed dead.
