Israel conducted an airstrike overnight between June 5 and June 6 that targeted Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who had illegally taken over part of a UN school in Gaza. The UN has complained about the airstrike and various reports have parroted these claims. However, the presence of terrorists at a UN facility once again shows that the UN is not doing enough to protect civilians from Hamas.
“Overnight, the IDF conducted a precise, intelligence-based strike targeting dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists hiding inside a UN school in Gaza. Some of these terrorists participated in the Hamas Massacre of October 7. I will soon reveal the identities of some of the terrorists we eliminated,” the IDF said.
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari went on to note, “The terrorists were operating from this UN school. They were planning and conducting attacks from inside classrooms of this UNRWA school. Our precise strike was based on concrete intelligence, from multiple sources. The terrorists inside this school were planning more attacks against Israelis, some of them imminent. We stopped a ticking time-bomb. This is what it was.”
The UN undersecretary for humanitarian affairs said that the strike is “yet another tragedy proving there is nowhere safe for civilians in Gaza. The rules of war must be respected. Civilians must be protected. States must use their leverage: Diplomatic and economic pressure, conditioning arms exports, and cooperation in fighting impunity.”
The Commissioner-General of UNRWA said “the school was sheltering 6,000 displaced people when it was hit. Claims that armed groups may have been inside the shelter are shocking. We are however unable to verify these claims.”
The Israeli claims and the UN claims once again show how the UN and other international organizations in Gaza are not doing enough to protect civilians from Hamas.
Hamas systematically using civilian areas to build tunnels
Hamas has systematically used civilian areas to build tunnels and it has systematically sought to exploit hospitals, schools, and various UN and other international facilities to hide its gunmen and to hide terrorists.
For instance, almost a thousand Hamas terrorists went into Shifa hospital in late February and early March, before an IDF raid found them there.
A thousand men don’t go into a hospital and take over parts of it without any staff noticing. However, in Gaza there has been a systematic decision by NGOs and UN members working there to never mention Hamas and not monitor facilities for the presence of Hamas.
In fact, most of these groups appear to have banned their members from even using the word “Hamas.” Therefore they speak of “armed groups.” This stands to reason that when hundreds of men come into a building and take over part of it, that if the men don’t wear uniform or carry weapons, then they are not called an “armed group.”
It’s important to understand the code of silence here. This is not just due to people not noticing. A recent interview with a Kurdish doctor who volunteered in north Gaza revealed that Hamas had taken over the third floor of a hospital as a “VIP” area for its own members and connected people. Patients who were not affiliated with Hamas or were seen as affiliated with other groups were denied treatment. When international NGOs worked at the same hospital, they had a duty to report the fact that patients were denied service for political reasons. However, only this one Kurdish doctor dared mention this.
What we see in Gaza is a lot of evidence of how Hamas uses these civilian facilities systematically and also a systematic attempt to cover for Hamas. This has the result of forcing civilians to be in areas with Hamas presence.
For instance, in a shelter or school, the civilians should be told that Hamas is illegally using the building. If a person is a school administrator and dozens of adult men unaffiliated with the school enter the building and take over classrooms, this should be reported and there should be a duty to warn the civilians of the presence of these men.
The problem in Gaza is that Hamas not only systematically uses hospitals and school, but that there is a second systematic attempt not to mention Hamas or monitor the presence of unaffiliated men in these facilities.
The UN, as one of the most powerful organizations in Gaza, appears to have failed to protect civilians from the presence of Hamas.
The claims that the presence of the “armed group” cannot be “verified” is problematic. There must be ways to put in place a mandate that the UN or other groups actively monitor their facilities and verify that unaffiliated men are not entering them.
If the presence of unaffiliated men are detected, or floors of the facility are taken over and diverted for use by groups of men, it should be reported and the civilians who are sheltering should be warned.
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