The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), backed by intelligence from the ISA, executed a strategic strike on May 22, 2024, targeting a Hamas military compound embedded within an UNRWA school in Gaza. The strike, carried out by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) using precision munitions, underscores a critical and troubling revelation: UNRWA facilities continue to be co-opted—or actively used—to support terrorist activities. This operation exemplifies the extent of UNRWA’s direct complicity, with its infrastructure serving as a platform for Hamas to conduct military operations.
A Base for Terrorism Hidden in Plain Sight
The compound housed active Hamas operatives, including an anti-tank missile specialist and a Nukhba unit member, a testament to the facility’s importance in Hamas’s military framework. The presence of these operatives within an UNRWA school points to a deliberate strategy that goes beyond mere exploitation; it highlights a shared operational space between UNRWA and Hamas, where the organization’s facilities serve dual purposes.
Weapons found in the compound included mortars and explosives, as evidenced by significant secondary explosions following the IAF’s targeted strike. This discovery reaffirms the use of UNRWA buildings as safe havens and strategic bases for weapon stockpiles and military planning by Hamas.
A Calculated Plan to Minimize Civilian Harm
Despite the strategic challenge posed by Hamas embedding its military operations within civilian and humanitarian sites, the IDF’s planning emphasized precision to limit any harm to civilians. The operation was meticulously executed, demonstrating the IDF’s commitment to neutralizing threats while protecting innocent lives. The targeted nature of the strike ensured that while the military compound was rendered inoperative, surrounding civilian areas were spared significant damage.
UNRWA’s Role: Complicit, Not Neutral
This incident is yet another example of how UNRWA’s supposed neutrality is fundamentally compromised. The fact that a military compound could be established and operated from within a school run by an internationally recognized humanitarian organization highlights the organization’s complicity or, at the very least, severe negligence. UNRWA’s continued involvement in facilitating an environment where terrorism can thrive undermines its mission and the safety of civilians.
The international community must address the use of UNRWA facilities as operational bases for terrorism. The infiltration of a school by a terrorist group like Hamas, combined with UNRWA’s oversight, demands a reassessment of the organization’s practices and the nature of its involvement in Gaza. Only through stringent measures and transparency can future misuse of such facilities be prevented and the true nature of UNRWA’s operations revealed.
UNRWA’s entanglement with Hamas activities—this time highlighted by a military compound within one of its schools—demonstrates that the organization’s infrastructure is repeatedly used as a shield for terrorist operations. This pattern of complicity must be addressed, and significant oversight is needed to ensure that facilities meant for humanitarian aid do not continue to support and protect those intent on perpetuating violence.
