United Nations in the twilight: UN coordinator calls Hamas a “political movement”
February 15, 2024, 6:58 pm Listen to the article
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The United Nations is not making a good impression on the war in Gaza. While the Palestine Relief Organization is accused of active participation in the October 7 massacre, the UN emergency relief 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 relief coordinator Martin Griffiths about the Palestinian organization Hamas. Griffiths said in an interview that Islamic Hamas was not a terrorist organization, but a political movement. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz then wrote on the online portal X that Griffiths denied that Hamas was a terrorist organization. “How embarrassing!” Katz even described Hamas as a “Nazi organization.”
A Sky News journalist asked Griffiths whether Israel's plan to destroy Hamas and not give it any role 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.” Israel's UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan wrote in Erdan asked, among other things: “Isn't the barbaric murder of hundreds of civilians terror? Isn't the systematic rape of women terror?”
In addition to Israel, Hamas is also classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the US. 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, the Israeli military has launched massive airstrikes 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 in 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 7. The allegations were considered plausible by the United Nations.
Israel also claims that the humanitarian organization has been completely infiltrated by Hamas. On Friday, the Israeli army reported the discovery of a Hamas tunnel that allegedly passes under the headquarters of the Palestinian Relief Organization in Gaza City. The underground passage was 700 meters long and 18 meters deep and served as an important facility for Hamas' military intelligence service, the military said. The head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said on X that the organization knew nothing about this. Israel has repeatedly called for the dissolution of UNRWA and the dismissal of Lazzarini. An international analysis by the United Nations is underway and a first report is expected at the end of March.