U.S. can't verify UNRWA-arms link

The U.S. State Department said Monday the alleged use of United Nations ambulances to smuggle Palestinian weapons was "unacceptable."

"I'm not in a position to validate them (the allegations) for you," department spokesman Adam Ereli said. "Obviously, if resources of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees were misused in this way, it would be unacceptable."

On Sunday, UNRWA denied one of its ambulances in Gaza carried a Qassam rocket, saying a film showed only a folded stretcher. An Israeli drone hovering over Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip Friday filmed people placing an oblong object into a UNRWA ambulance. The Israeli army said it was a Qassam rocket and demanded a U.N. investigation.

Palestinians have been firing Qassams at the town of Sderot, inside Israel, from that area prompting military raids.

UNRWA's Commissioner-General Peter Hansen issued a news release arguing people in the picture were carrying: "a folded stretcher, a logical and indispensable accessory in any ambulance," Hansen said.

Ereli said if the allegation turned out to be true, "we'd have to consider what actions we think are appropriate."

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