Jerusalem, Oct 24 (EFE).- The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security service) reported on Thursday the death of Mohamed Abu Itiwi, commander of the Nukhba force, Hamas’s elite unit, in central Gaza.
Israel claimed that Abu Itiwi was involved in the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and that he was employed since 2022 by the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, which Israel accuses of being infiltrated by Hamas members.
Abu Itiwi, killed on Wednesday, was the commander of the Nukhba force of the Bureij Battalion in central Gaza.
According to Israel, during the attacks on Oct. 7, he led the assault on a bomb shelter in Reim, where several attendees of the Nova music festival sought refuge. Around 370 people were killed at that event.
16 people were killed, and four taken alive from Reim’s shelter. Among them was American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was murdered by his Hamas captors on Aug. 31, along with five other hostages. Seven people survived.
Israel claimed that about 2,100 UNRWA employees belong to Hamas and accused 12 of them in January of actively participating in the Oct. 7 attacks. The agency responded immediately by launching an internal investigation and dismissing the workers.
UNRWA, which has over 30,000 employees, later stated that Israel had not presented conclusive evidence regarding these workers’ involvement in the attacks.
An independent investigation led by former French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna in March confirmed the neutrality of the agency’s humanitarian operations, although it identified «critical areas.»
When Israel made these accusations in January, 18 countries announced they were withdrawing their funding, including major donors such as the United States, Germany, Japan, and France, resulting in a 450 million dollar budget cut amid an emergency response in Gaza.
Most countries, including Canada, Sweden, Australia, and the European Union itself, resumed funding UNRWA months later because of the inconsistency of the evidence presented by Israel regarding its links to Hamas.
Israel has made no secret of its intention to expel UNRWA from its territory, and there are several bills in the Knesset to declare it a «terrorist organization,» as well as efforts to remove it from its headquarters in East Jerusalem. EFE
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