As per the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, certain employees who were freed from Israeli detention and transferred into Gaza said that they were coerced by Israeli authorities to fabricate claims that the agency was affiliated with Hamas and that its staff members were involved in the attacks on October 7.
The claims are presented in a U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) report that was examined by Reuters in February 2024 and included claims of mistreatment in Israeli captivity made by anonymous Palestinians, some of whom were UNRWA employees.
Director of UNRWA Communications Juliette Touma stated that the organization intended to provide the data in the 11-page, unpublished report to organizations both inside and outside the United Nations that are tasked with recording any violations of human rights.
“When the war comes to an end there needs to be a series of inquiries to look into all violations of human rights,” she stated.
According to the paper, the Israeli army had imprisoned a number of Palestinian staff members of UNRWA. They claimed to have been subjected to severe physical beatings, waterboarding, and threats against their families.
According to the report, “While in detention, Agency staff members were subjected to threats and coercion by the Israeli authorities, and pressured to make false statements against the Agency, including that the Agency has affiliations with Hamas and that UNRWA staff members took part in the 7 October 2023 atrocities.”
A request by Reuters to obtain interview transcripts containing claims of forced false confessions was turned down by UNRWA.
Palestinian detainees more widely reported charges of abuse, including beatings, humiliation, threats, dog attacks, sexual violence, and deaths of detainees denied medical attention, in addition to the alleged abuse suffered by UNRWA staff members, the UNRWA study stated.
MANAGEMENT AMID A CRIME
Aid and basic services are provided by UNRWA to Palestinian refugees. The organization is currently embroiled in a crisis due to claims made by Israel in January that 12 of its 13,000 employees in Gaza participated in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The allegations made by Israel caused 16 nations, including the US, to halt $450 million in funding for UNRWA, putting the organization’s operations in jeopardy. A U.N. investigation was initiated, and UNRWA dismissed a few employees, citing the need to safeguard the organization’s capacity to provide humanitarian aid.
Norway, which has kept supporting the organization, stated on March 6 that many of the nations who had stopped funding were probably reconsidering and that payments would start up again shortly.
Although the claims of maltreatment of detainees and coercion of UNRWA staff align with the experiences of Palestinians released from detention in December, February, and March that Reuters and other news media reported, Reuters was unable to independently verify these accounts.
When Reuters asked an Israeli military spokesperson about the range of accusations in the report, the spokesperson said that the Israeli Defense Forces protect the rights of the detainees by acting in accordance with Israeli and international law. However, the spokesperson did not directly address the allegations of coercion against UNRWA staff.
According to the spokesperson, specific reports of inappropriate behavior are sent to the right authorities for consideration, and the military police look into every detainee death. Israel refutes vague and unverified allegations of detainee sexual assault.
According to the spokeswoman, released captives are under Hamas’ authority and may be coerced into criticizing Israel or face “harm”.
Touma refuted the claim of the inmates’ veracity by stating that the report was founded on “first-hand testimonies that people told us.” There was evidently a physical influence on people’s bodies in certain instances. additionally to psychological effects. Thus, this is what the documentation also shows.”
Approximately 5.7 million officially registered Palestinian refugees reside in the Middle East and are served by UNRWA with aid, education, and health services. The largest contributor to its yearly budget of $1.4 billion has been the United States.
On March 4, the Israeli army made fresh allegations against UNRWA, claiming that it hired more than 450 “military operatives” from Hamas and other armed organizations and that it had given the UN access to this information.
INTERROGATION
Later same day, citing remarks made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the destruction of UNRWA’s infrastructure in Gaza, the agency’s director issued a warning about “a deliberate and concerted campaign” intended to halt the agency’s function.
When asked about the most recent claims made by Israel, Touma responded that UNRWA urged any organization possessing knowledge regarding the charges made against UNRWA employees to provide it to the U.N. monitoring body conducting the investigation.
Touma informed Reuters that the report was based on interviews the organization had done with dozens of Palestinians who had been released from Israeli custody and for whom UNRWA had offered support.
She claimed she was unable to give a more precise number and was unsure of the number of inmates who had come forward with claims of mistreatment or coercion to claim UNRWA was associated with Hamas.
The research focuses on detainees who, between December and February, were brought outside of Gaza for protracted periods of questioning and then returned via THE Kerem Shalom CROSSING.
Israel wants the UNRWA to close.
According to the report, as of February 19, UNRWA had recorded the release of 1,002 prisoners at Kerem Shalom, ranging in age from six to 82.
Israeli officials report that 1,200 people were killed and 253 were taken hostage during the Hamas-led attack on October 7. As a result of the Israeli offensive, more than 30,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip, according to health officials in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.
Asserting that the Israeli accusations against the organization, if accurate, constitute a betrayal of both the people UNRWA serves and U.N. values, UNRWA has denounced the attacks of October 7.
On February 29, U.N. investigators announced that they anticipated hearing from Israel shortly on its charges that employees of UNRWA are Hamas members.
According to Israel, UNRWA need to be closed.
Reuters has spoken with Palestinians who were imprisoned by Israel during the fighting and who claimed to have been mistreated. Among them are three guys who claimed to have been beaten, stripped down to their underwear, and set on fire with cigarettes along with other prisoners.
Photographs or names of any of the detainees were absent from the copy of the report that Reuters saw.
With reporting from James Mackenzie, Angus MacDowall, and Tom Perry, Tom Perry wrote the article, William Maclean edited it.
