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Intelligence
and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies
(C.S.S) |
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Special
Information Bulletin |
May
2004 |
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Terrorist
organizations exploit UNRWA vehicles: during the Israeli army
operation in the Zeitun quarter of Gaza, UNWRA vehicles were
used to smuggle armed terrorists out of the area and in all
probability remains of Israeli soldiers as well |
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Note: The ambulance pictured has no direct connection to the
ambulances
in the article and serves only as an illustration. |
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1. |
Reuters has a video cassette of pictures
taken during the Israeli army operation in the Zeitun quarter of Gaza City
on May 11, 2004. It shows armed Palestinians using UNRWA ambulances to
transport terrorists and possibly also remains of fallen Israeli soldiers. |
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2. |
Partial confirmation came from the
statement made on May 13 by a UN spokesman, that during the incident (which
occurred in Gaza on May 11), armed Palestinians threatened an UNRWA ambulance
team and forced them to transport an armed and wounded Palestinian and
his two armed escorts to a Gaza hospital. The spokesman noted that UNRWA
censured the action “in the strongest terms possible.” He also noted that
armed personnel are not permitted to enter UNRWA vehicles on any pretext
whatsoever, and called upon Israel and the Palestinians to respect the
agency's neutrality. |
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3. |
In addition, since the beginning
of the current ongoing hostilities, several incidents have been recorded
in which terrorist organizations have used UNRWA facilities and vehicles
(including ambulances) to facilitate their terrorist operations. Two prominent
examples are: |
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a. |
Nidal ‘Abd al-Fataah ‘Abdallah
Nizal, a Hamas activist from Qalqiliya who
worked as an UNRWA ambulance driver (arrested in August 2002), admitted
he had used one such vehicle to transport munitions to terrorists and
had also exploited the freedom of movement he enjoyed to transmit messages
to and from Hamas activists in various places. |
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b. |
Nahd Rashid Ahmad Atallah, a senior UNRWA
employee working in the Gaza Strip who was in charge of distributing aid
to refugees (arrested in August 2002), admitted that during June and July
2002 he had given rides in his car – an UNRWA vehicle – to armed terrorists
belonging to the Popular Resistance Committees. The terrorists were on
their way to attack Israeli soldiers at the Karni Checkpoint and to fire
rockets at Israeli settlement in the northern Gaza Strip. He also used
his UNRWA car to transport a bomb weighing 12 kg (about 25 lbs) to his
brother-in-law, a Popular Resistance Committees operative (Note: the Popluar
Resistance Committees are a militant faction of Fatah and are active primarily
in the Gaza Strip). |
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4. |
Nahd Atallah explained that he had
used his car to transport terrorists to their targets because it
belonged to the United Nations, and since the Israeli army did
not search such vehicles, he could travel freely. His admission is a striking
example of the way terrorist organizations exploit the privileges of relaxed
security restrictions accorded UNRWA vehicles by Israeli forces. Such privileges
are the result of humanitarian considerations and the Israeli desire to
maintain correct relations with UN representatives active in the Palestinian
Authority-administered territories. |
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5. |
Additional information about past
exploitation by terrorists of UNRWA personnel, vehicles and facilities
can be found at the Center for Special Studies Website. |
