The IDF revealed Monday new evidence based on military intelligence regarding the involvement of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Hamas’s October 7 attack.
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The military published the identities of four additional workers who were involved in the massacre - after the identities of other involved employees in the UN agency were already exposed - and also published incriminating recordings of two terrorists for the first time who, alongside their operation for terror organizations in the Strip, worked as teachers in UNRWA schools, and admitted to participating in the massacre.
In the first recording, a terrorist who works as an Arabic teacher in a UNRWA school in Deir al-Balah described how he infiltrated Israeli territory on October 7 and said he was holding onto an Israeli woman he abducted.
'I'm inside, with the Jews'
The terrorist, and another one with whom he conversed on the phone, are heard laughing and joking - with the latter even describing some woman, likely a hostage, as a "noble mare."
In the second recording that was exposed, another terrorist who works as a teacher in an elementary school of UNRWA in Khan Younis, is heard saying he managed to infiltrate Israel: "I’m inside, with the Jews," he said.
"Terror organizations in the Strip use civilian institutions, hospitals, and international aid organizations, and coerce them for terrorist purposes and harming innocent civilians," the military said in a statement. It added that according to its intelligence, over 450 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists in the Strip are employed as UNRWA workers.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, issued a statement on the incriminating recordings, saying the identities of additional terrorists employed by UNRWA will be revealed in the coming days - including those holding senior positions within the UN agency.
He noted that in the recordings, the terrorists speak with contempt and hate, referring to the abducted women as "Sabaya" - an Islamic term that refers to women and children as the property of men, and can also be interpreted as slaves or servants. Hagari mentioned that the Islamic State also used the term to describe Yazidi women whom they abducted for sexual slavery.
According to Hagari, this is further evidence that Hamas terrorists treated women with brutality and saw them as animals on October 7 — after numerous pieces of evidence and testimonies have already been exposed regarding the terrorists’ sexual atrocities.
"The way they refer to the abducted women as 'Sabaya' or 'noble mares' is extremely worrying and calls for a global outcry – the same as when the world cried for Yazidi women," Hagari said, highlighting Israel’s concerns for hostages still held in the Strip.
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Torched vehicle in Kibbutz Re'im after October 7 attack
(Photo: AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
In the main recording released by the military, Yousef Zidan Suliman al-Hawajri, an Arabic teacher in Deir al-Balah, who according to the IDF is a terrorist associated with Hamas's military wing.
"We have hostages. I caught one," al-Hawajri says. In the recording, the date of which wasn’t disclosed, he’s heard speaking with another undisclosed individual — though it’s likely he also took part in the massacre due to the context of his words.
In the second recording the two individuals, as mentioned, are heard congratulating each other and expressing joy over Hamas's success in carrying out the most severe attack against Israel in its history.
'I saw, they shot them in the eyes'
Al-Hawajri asks his unnamed caller if "he found something," to which he replies: "Yes, they brought a horse." According to the IDF, this is likely a codename for a woman. "You brought in a mare?" al-Hawajri confirms - and the other answers that it is a "noble mare, not just any horse." He then adds, "I’m kidding bro.”
In the recorded conversation, the two discuss the massacre in southern Israel, and the unnamed caller says: "I was in the eastern area; there’s a lot of smoke in all of the military outposts."
Al-Hawajri: "I was there."
Caller: "Where?"
Al-Hawajri: "Inside, east of al-Dair."
Caller: "No way, how is it there?"
Al-Hawajri: "We went in."
Caller: "Really, bro?... I saw the (graphic) sights."
Al-Hawajri: "Yes, I saw it... They shot them in the eyes."
Caller: "How many did you see?"
Al-Hawajri: "I saw two, me and another guy from our group."
Caller: "You should’ve brought them with you.”
Later in the conversation, al-Hawajri recounts how the terrorists in the massacre "broke the cameras and the gates" in southern Israel. "Wow, what a thing they did. Listen, they carried out an operation to free us."
The second speaker asks if he brought weapons with him, and he replies, "No, we brought what we could." When asked "what he found in Israel," al-Hawajri replied: "1,000 shekels."
As mentioned, the IDF revealed another recording of a terrorist named Mamduh Hassin Ahmed al-Kak — a member of the Islamic Jihad’s military wing — who also works as a teacher at a UNRWA elementary school in Khan Younis.
The military didn’t detail who he talked with, but it could be assumed to be another terrorist based on the conversation’s context. The second speaker asks al-Kak where he is, and he indicates that the Gaza border "is full of shooting and fighter jets." Al-Kak responds, "I'm inside, with the Jews inside." Later, the second speaker asks al-Kak how he intends to return home, to which he answers, "When I die."
In addition to the two recorded terrorists, the IDF revealed the identities of two other terrorists employed by UNRWA: Rassan Al-Jabari, who according to the IDF is associated with Hamas's Al Furqan Battalion and also works as a UNRWA "health officer", and Bakr Mahmoud Abdullah Darwish, who served as an advisor at a UNRWA school - alongside his involvement in Hamas's military wing.
After cutting ties with 10 workers out of 12 Israel has previously uncovered as working for Hamas and taking part in the October 7 attack, UNRWA has accused Israel of abusing its workers into confessing these crimes, which they allege didn’t take place.
The UN body announced Monday that it will soon publish the conclusions of an investigation it conducted into the alleged abuse of Palestinian detainees held at bases in Israel by the IDF, according to the New York Times.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to the report and attacked UNRWA, saying that "there is no limit to the brazenness of this organization, dozens of whose employees took an active part in the October 7 massacre, thousands of them are members of Hamas and its facilities were used by Hamas' infrastructure."