Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Danny Danon urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to designate the Palestinian movement Hamas as a terrorist organization over its misuse of civilian infrastructure.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In his letter to UNSC President Sacha Sergio Llorenty Soliz on Friday, Danon said that Hamas had built a tunnel beneath two adjacent schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip.

"I call on the Security Council to strongly and unequivocally condemn Hamas and its repeated misuse of civilian infrastructure, and designate this group as a terrorist organization. It is of the utmost importance that the Council ensures that all UN-affiliated agencies, and especially UNRWA, remain neutral and safeguarded from abuse by terrorist organizations," the letter published by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Twitter on Saturday read.

In the document, Danon characterized the establishment of a tunnel under the classrooms as "the latest of deeply concerning attempts by Hamas terrorists to systematically exploit the organs of the UN," which are not only placing the people leaving in Israel and Gaza at risk but are also severely damaging the humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

"Despite the repeated efforts of my delegation, our reports of Hamas' military buildup and use of children in military campaigns have fallen on deaf ears. This time, the international community must not turn a blind eye toward such cynical exploitation," Danon stressed in the letter.

The identical letter was also sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Gunerres, Danon noted.

The Israeli authorities have been looking for and uncovering Hamas' network of underground tunnels since the 2014 Gaza war during which it had been used to attack Israeli troops near the border with Gaza.