The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have discovered a top-secret underground data center belonging to Hamas beneath the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters in the war-torn Gaza Strip. A sophisticated server farm with an electrical room and accommodation for Hamas’s IT staff was strategically placed beneath the United Nations agency’s complex in Gaza City’s Rimal District, the Times of Israel reported. Ta.
The military claimed that the chamber acted as a hub to power the tunnel infrastructure in the area. This secret setting is said to have been intended to protect the facility from Israeli airstrikes and ensure secrecy.
“20 meters above us is the UNRWA headquarters,” said Lt. Col. Ido. His last name was redacted by the military. “This is the electrical room. You can see it everywhere here. The batteries, the electricity in the walls, everything comes from here. All the energy for the tunnel you walked through comes from here.”
According to the Associated Press, it has not been conclusively proven that Hamas militants were operating in tunnels beneath the UNWRA facility, but it has been proven that at least part of the tunnels ran under the facility’s courtyard. It is said that According to the Associated Press, the military claimed that the command had provided power to the tunnel.
The head of the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency has denied any knowledge of a Hamas data center beneath its Gaza headquarters.
UNRWA Director-General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency was not aware of any activity taking place on its premises, adding that the agency’s staff were sent to Gaza in October following an Israeli evacuation order amid escalating hostilities. He claimed to have moved out of the city headquarters.
Lazzarini said UNRWA conducts regular inspections of facilities “when there is no active conflict,” with the most recent inspection taking place in September 2023.
“We have not used the compound since leaving it and are not aware of any activity that may have taken place there,” U.N. officials said in a post about X.
“UNRWA is a human development and humanitarian organization with no military or security expertise or the ability to conduct military inspections of what is or may be on its premises.” he added.
Mr. Lazzarini highlighted the need for an independent investigation into the matter, citing a lack of expertise and capacity on the part of UNRWA to conduct military inspections.
The official further said that Israeli authorities had not formally notified UNRWA about the alleged tunnel.
According to the Times of Israel, allegations that Hamas was operating data centers under UNRWA’s nose have raised concerns about the level of Hamas infiltration within UNRWA.
“Oh, did you know,” Israel’s Coordinator of Territorial Government Activities, known by the acronym COGAT, said in a post shortly after Lazzarini admitted ignorance.
“It will take more than 4 months to dig a tunnel. We invited @UN officials for a tour and said in past meetings with you and other UN officials that Hamas is using UNRWA headquarters. You chose to ignore the facts in order to later try to deny them.”