United Nations in the twilight
UN coordinator calls Hamas a “political movement”
February 15, 2024, 6:58 p.m
The United Nations is not making a good impression on the war in Gaza. While the Palestinian Relief Organization is accused of active participation in the October 7 massacre, the UN emergency aid coordinator is on the run. Griffith calls the terrorist militia Hamas a “political movement.”
Israeli politicians have expressed outrage over comments made by UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths about the Palestinian organization Hamas. Griffiths said in an interview that the Islamist Hamas was not a terrorist organization, but a political movement. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz then wrote on the online portal X that Griffiths had denied that Hamas was a terrorist organization. “Shame on him!” Katz even described Hamas as a “Nazi organization.”
A Sky News journalist had asked Griffiths whether Israel’s plan to destroy Hamas and give it no part in future Gaza negotiations was realistic. The UN representative responded: “I think it is very difficult. I have worked with many, many different terrorist and rebel groups. For us, Hamas is not a terrorist organization, but a political movement.” Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan wrote on Erdan asked, among other things: “Is the barbaric murder of hundreds of civilians not terror? Is the systematic rape of women not terror?”
In addition to Israel, Hamas is also classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and USA. On October 7, terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups attacked southern Israel. They killed 1,200 people and kidnapped another 250 to the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel’s military has launched massive air strikes and a ground offensive against Hamas and its allies in the coastal area.
UNRWA has been under pressure for weeks
The United Nations refugee agency for the Gaza Strip is also currently under suspicion of terrorism. UNRWA has been in the headlines for several weeks because Israel has accused a dozen of the organization’s employees of being directly involved in the terrorist acts carried out by the Islamist Hamas on October 7th. The allegations were deemed plausible by the United Nations.
Israel also claims that the aid organization has been completely infiltrated by Hamas. On Friday, the Israeli army reported the discovery of a Hamas tunnel that is said to run under the headquarters of the Palestinian Relief Organization in the city of Gaza. The underground passage was 700 meters long, 18 meters deep and served as an important facility for Hamas’s military intelligence service, the military said. UNRWA boss Philippe Lazzarini said on X that the organization knew nothing about it. Israel has repeatedly called for the dissolution of UNRWA and Lazzarini’s resignation. An international review by the UN organization is ongoing, and a first report is expected at the end of March.