UNRWA director in Gaza apologizes after saying IDF strikes were 'precise'

Matthias Schmale, director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the Gaza Strip, apologized after telling Channel 12 News that IDF strikes in recent clashes were "precise."

The UNRWA chief in Gaza claimed that his statements were taken out of context and manipulated to favor Israel in the recent operation, called Guardian of the Walls.

"This is blatant manipulation of my interview, I did NOT say the IDF operated within the laws of war," Schmale wrote on Twitter. "Killing more than 200 civilians including innocent women & children is NOT acting within laws of war. There must be independent investigation & accountability for those actions."

"No one has forced me into an apology," Schmale added. "Responsible leaders listen carefully to people they serve - in my case Palestine refugees; civilians, not political or military actors - and accept and correct errors of judgment."

"I have the impression that there is a huge sophistication in the way the Israeli military struck over the last 11 days, so that's not my issue," he told Channel 12 in an interview earlier this week.

Schmale stressed, however, that while the strikes were precise, they were also exceedingly "vicious."

 

"I've had many colleagues describe to me that they feel that, in comparison with the 2014 war, this time the strikes felt much more vicious in terms of their impact," said the UNRWA director. "So yes, they didn't hit – with some exceptions – civilian targets, but the viciousness, ferocity of the strikes was heavily felt."

Schmale added that while at least 1,000 residential units were destroyed during the operation, there is no current shortage of medicine, food or water.

"I think the precision was there, but there was unacceptable and unbearable loss of life on the civilian side," Schmale told Channel 12.

Gaza social media users expressed outrage at Schmale's statements, calling for him to be removed from his position for saying that Israel didn't target civilians.

"Matthias's recent statements confirm that he is part of the aggression, and is not suitable for playing another role," wrote Hamas-affiliated analyst Ibrahim al-Madhoun on Twitter in response to Schmale's statements.

Hamas also slammed the UNRWA official, tweeting Tuesday that the movement was shocked by Schmale's statements, accusing him of pretending to be a "military analyst for the occupation army."

Former IDF spokesperson for foreign media Peter Lerner responded to Schmale's comments on Monday, tweeting "Thank you @matzschmale, @UNRWA for your candid interview w/ @arad_nir & for sharing your opinion that Israeli strikes were indeed precise, conducted with a huge sophistication, and huge ferociousness, but mostly not civilian targets. Indeed all loss of civilian life is tragic."

In response to Lerner, Schmale stressed that "all loss of civilian life (on both sides) is not 'tragic' but unacceptable!" naming "occupation and blockade" as the underlying causes of the conflict.

"Military precision & sophistication is no justification for war. Violence will not solve the underlying root causes, namely occupation and blockade," tweeted Schmale on Monday. His Twitter feed has been largely absent of any explicit mentions or condemnations of Hamas, although he did call for "armed groups" in Gaza to stop firing rockets on civilian populations.

Pro-Palestinian activists and opponents to Israel's actions during Operation Guardian of the Walls have claimed that Israel intentionally targeted civilians during the operation, despite statements by the IDF stressing that it took all possible efforts to avoid civilian casualties, including warning civilians ahead of strikes.