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Source: https://nypost.com/2024/11/05/opinion/un-must-stop-shielding-israels-terror-foes-in-gaza-lebanon/
UN Must Stop Protecting Israel's Terror Foes in Gaza and Lebanon
(New York Post) Hillel Neuer - On Oct. 7, 2023, members of the UN organization UNRWA actively took part in the Hamas terrorist massacres in Israel. Last week, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that the terrorist who commanded the attack that led to the abduction of American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin and other hostages was an UNRWA employee. Meanwhile, in the months since Oct. 7, members of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have provided cover, intentionally or not, for Hizbullah terrorists as they rained down more than 10,000 missiles, drones and rockets on Israeli civilians. The only function UNIFIL performs at this point is to shield Hizbullah's terrorist operation, which continues to threaten Israel from its northern border. A top Hamas commander killed in Lebanon turned out to be the principal of an UNRWA school - and the head of the country's UNRWA Teachers Union. A Hamas command room was discovered inside UNRWA headquarters in Gaza. That's why last week, Israeli lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to bar the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants from operating within Israel, and severely curtailing its activities in Gaza and the West Bank. Just like Hamas subverted UNRWA, Hizbullah has subverted UNIFIL. As the IDF uncovers Hizbullah stockpiles of weapons and bunkers in southern Lebanon, their proximity to UNIFIL positions is striking. Under UNIFIL's watch, Iran's terrorist proxy built an arsenal of 150,000 missiles and became far more powerful than Lebanon's own military. For UNRWA and UNIFIL to continue operating in their present form is untenable. These organizations must be dismantled - so that Gaza and Lebanon can be freed from the control of violent extremists and their enablers. The writer is executive director of United Nations Watch in Geneva.