Israel’s foreign minister on Saturday called for the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees to quit, following Israeli claims that a Hamas tunnel had been discovered under its evacuated Gaza City headquarters.
Israel Katz dismissed UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini’s claim that he was unaware of its presence as “not only absurd but also an affront to common sense”.
“His prompt resignation is imperative,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Lazzarini, already under pressure after Israel claimed some UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack, said the agency had not operated from the compound since October 12.
Instead he called for an independent investigation.
Hamas has previously denied Israeli claims that it has dug an extensive network of tunnels under schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure as cover for its activities.
Israel’s army and the Shin Bet security agency said operations in Gaza City in recent weeks had led to the discovery of a “tunnel shaft” near a school run by the humanitarian agency.
“The shaft led to an underground terror tunnel that served as a significant asset of Hamas’s military intelligence and passed under the building that serves as UNRWA’s main headquarters in the Gaza Strip,” they added in a statement.
“Electrical infrastructure” in the tunnel — 700 metres (765 yards) long and 18 metres underground — “connected” to the agency’s HQ, “indicating that UNRWA’s facilities supplied the tunnel with electricity”, they said.
Documents and a stash of weapons in the UN compound itself “confirmed that the offices had in fact also been used by Hamas terrorists”, the joint statement said.
Katz claimed the discovery showed UNRWA’s “deep involvement” with Hamas.
