Hansen said the object in the footage could not weigh more than a few kilos while a Qassam rocket weights at least 50 kilos

GAZA CITY, October 3 (IslamOnline.net) – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) refuted on Sunday, October 3, Israeli allegations that its ambulances were used to transport weapons of Palestinian resistance fighters, warning the claims endanger the safety of its crew members in the occupied Palestinians territories.

UNRWA Commissioner General Peter Hansen said this was not the first time Israel leveled groundless accusations at the UN agency, citing recent harassment of his employees by Israeli occupation troops forcing them to leave the Gaza Strip.

An UNRWA source told Israeli Haaretz newspaper on Sunday that the Israeli authorities did not present any evidence to substantiate their allegations.

"UNRWA just offers humanitarian aide to the Palestinians, and it is not part of the ongoing conflict."

Israeli television broadcast video footage of what it claimed were Palestinian "militants" loading a Qassam rocket launcher into a vehicle with the United Nations logo on the roof.

The Israeli army said that one of its drones had shot the footage Friday evening above Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel has been conducting a massive and bloody incursion into the northern Gaza Strip, particularly its largest refugee camp of Jabaliya, since Tuesday, September 28.

Some 57 Palestinians have so far been killed in the operation, the deadliest in four years’ time.

Stretcher

Hansen told Haaretz that it is easy to prove that the suspicious looking object in the black and white footage is a stretcher.

He said the object carried by one of the two men could not weigh more than a few kilos, noting that a Qassam rocket weights at least 50 kilos.

A Qassam rocket, the UNRWA chief added, is 1.80 meters long and has a diameter of 17 centimeters, while the photos revealed an object 5 centimeters wide.

Hansen explained that a piece of cloth was clearly visible in the photo, which proves it was an ambulance stretcher, and naturally, this is what the ambulance crew was carrying.

Hansen’s Dismissal

Israel says the footage was taken by a drone in the Gaza Strip

Israel said Sunday it will lodge a strong protest with the United Nations after the footage and call for the dismissal of Hansen.

Israel 's Ambassador to the UN Danny Gillerman accused the UNRWA chief of being "heavily implicated in this problem".

"Peter Hansen is far from being considered a friend of Israel , on the contrary, he hates Israel ," Gillerman continued.

The Israeli accusation followed an UNRWA complaint against Israel after its troops had taken over UN-run schools in the Gaza Strip, while children were still in class, and used them as firing positions for tanks.

"They have now taken positions in these three schools and using them as a military camp for their ongoing campaign, using them also as firing positions," UNRWA spokesman Matthias Burchard had said.

"UNRWA strongly protests the totally unacceptable misuse of clearly marked UN installations and calls on the Israeli military to respect the neutrality of these places."

UNRWA has frequently accused the Israeli army of violating international law by hampering the work of its aid workers and the Red Cross in the Palestinian occupied territories.