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Tel Aviv [Israel], July 17 (ANI/TPS): Israel struck Hamas terrorists operating in a United Nations school in the central Gaza area of Nuseirat, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday. The strike marks the second attack on terrorists in a UNRWA facility in Nuseirat this week.
According to the army, Hamas used the school as a base to plan and direct attacks on soldiers. "The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law, exploiting civilian structures and population as human shields for its terror attacks against the State of Israel," the IDF said in a statement. Steps were taken to mitigate the risk of collateral damage to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and other intelligence measures. On Sunday, Israeli aircraft eliminated several Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists holed up in the UNRWA-run Abu Oraiban School, also in Nuseirat. They had used it as a hideout and launching point for attacks against Israeli troops. UN schools in Gaza are operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency. UNRWA, which supports Palestinian refugees, has been under fire for months, with Israeli officials demanding the agency be stripped of its authority in Gaza and defunded amid revelations that members of the agency's staff participated in Hamas's October 7 attacks. The Israeli government is bypassing UNRWA in distributing humanitarian aid. The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee recently advanced legislation designating UNRWA as a "terror organization," stripping the agency of its diplomatic immunity, tax-exempt status, and other legal benefits. Israel's largest bank froze UNRWA's account in February over suspicious financial transfers that the agency failed to adequately explain. That same month, Israeli forces discovered a Hamas complex located directly under the UNRWA's Gaza City headquarters and connected directly to the agency's electricity system. The facility included numerous computer servers belonging to the terror group. More than 100 survivors of Hamas's October 7 attacks filed a $1 billion lawsuit against UNRWA, accusing the agency of "aiding and abetting" the terror group. Palestinian refugees are the only refugee population with its own dedicated UN agency. The rest of the world's refugees fall under the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Israeli officials have called for UNRWA to be closed and for Palestinian refugees to be brought under the responsibility of the UNHCR. At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 116 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed dead. (ANI/TPS)
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