This is a thread specifically for the war, not a general megathread (use the pinned /c/genzedong thread for that).
Please keep related news in this thread rather than making separate posts. Remember to include sources and avoid spreading rumours.
This is a thread specifically for the war, not a general megathread (use the pinned /c/genzedong thread for that).
Please keep related news in this thread rather than making separate posts. Remember to include sources and avoid spreading rumours.
❗️Covert UN mission successfully rescues millions of historical Palestinian refugee documents from Gaza
A highly sensitive, ten-month clandestine operation by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) successfully evacuated millions of historical archival documents from the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, safeguarding generations of Palestinian records. The Guardian reported on 14 May that the complex mission involved dozens of UN staff members across four countries racing against intense bombardment, cyberattacks, and shifting frontlines to prevent the permanent destruction of the files.
The rescued documents, many dating back to 1948, include original refugee registration cards, birth certificates, and land records that provide the sole legal and historical evidence of displacement for hundreds of thousands of stateless Palestinians.
The first phase of the 10-month operation began under heavy fire after Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of UNRWA’s Gaza City headquarters in 2024. Turning down appeals to leave the files behind, a small team utilized rented pickup trucks to smuggle the paper archives south to Rafah over three dangerous trips, eventually moving them into Egypt using international staff who hand-carried the records past border checkpoints.
Concurrently, as hostile protests and arson attacks targeted UNRWA’s East Jerusalem compound ahead of new Israeli legislation banning the agency, staff members secretly moved a parallel set of historic archives across the border into Jordan.
The entire collection has since been compiled in Amman, where an extensive digitization project funded by Luxembourg is currently underway in a secure facility. More than 50 personnel are working to scan roughly 30 million individual documents by hand, a meticulous process that experts estimate will take another two years to fully complete.
According to historians cited by The Guardian, the preservation of this national archive is critical for any future legal resolutions to the conflict, ensuring that Palestinians retain access to their verified family lineages and documented histories despite the total destruction of physical infrastructure inside the Palestinian territories.
https://t.me/thecradlemedia/60062
The fascists will always try and fail to erase history.
We need more UNRWA like people in the UN.
🥺 Incredible work on their part. Thank you for sharing about it.
This is actually incredible news. Given their effort to erase every aspect of Palestinian history, heritage, and culture, having these records slip through their fingers is a setback for ‘Israel’. Well done to the UNRWA staff involved, they pulled this off under genuine threat of violence and persecution by the zionist entity. This way, these documents remain a potential legal threat-in-being to the apartheid colony.
For every bit of fecklessness displayed by the UN as a whole, it’s important to recognize many of the workers with organizations like UNRWA are genuinely committed to their mission statement and willing to put their lives on the line for those ideals. Very noble people indeed, and they should be commended at every opportunity.