Hamas leader admits that underground tunnels in Gaza were built for Hamas fighters, not civilians
Terror organization has endangered its own civilians to fight against Israel, says ‘responsibility of UN to protect them’
Hamas member Mousa Abu Marzouk of the Politburo, the political bureau of Hamas, was interviewed recently on Russia Today TV (RT TV).
During the interview, Marzouk denied that Hamas has a responsibility to provide for the safety of Palestinians in Gaza, despite being the official government of the Gaza Strip.
The RT interviewer told Marzouk: “Many people are asking: Since you have built 500 kilometers [over 310 miles] of tunnels, why haven't you built bomb shelters, where civilians can hide during bombardment?”
“We have built the tunnels because we have no other way of protecting ourselves from being targeted and killed,” Marzouk responded. “These tunnels are meant to protect us from the airplanes. We are fighting from inside the tunnels.”
Not only did Marzouk deny that Hamas should have responsibility for protecting Gazans during the war, he claimed that the responsibility belongs to the United Nations and Israel.
“Everybody knows that 75% of the people in the Gaza Strip are refugees, and it is the responsibility of the United Nations to protect them,” Marzouk stated.
The terrorist leader also said that Israel has the responsibility to provide critical services to Gaza as the “occupying power.”
“According to the Geneva Convention, it is the responsibility of the occupation to provide them with all the services as long as they are under occupation.”
However, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and has not occupied the 141-square mile strip of Gaza for 18 years.
While Gazan civilians have suffered the brutal effects of airstrikes on multiple Hamas sites, many of which are located in civilian neighborhoods or structures, the top Hamas leaders live lives of luxury in Arab nations like Qatar, Turkey and Lebanon.
Israel recently highlighted Hamas’ use of the tunnels and civilian sites, such as the Shifa Hospital, for military purposes, in direct opposition to the Geneva Convention.
Not only has Hamas not taken care of Gazan civilians, Israel accused the terror organization of actively endangering civilians and using them as human shields.
Hamas has also stolen humanitarian aid resources, causing shortages of necessary goods and services while slamming Israel for not allowing more humanitarian aid into the Strip.
Israel has repeatedly warned citizens of northern Gaza to flee to the south and created evacuation corridors, which were subsequently blocked by Hamas forces.
On Tuesday, Israel announced it would allow up to 100 humanitarian aid trucks per day to enter Gaza as its ground campaign Operation Iron Swords continues.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
