Thousands of Gazans took refuge in UNRWA schools and centers to escape the Israeli bombing of their neighborhoods (Anatolia)

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that some of its employees who were released from Israeli prisons in Gaza reported that they were subjected to pressure from the Israeli authorities to make false confessions.

UNRWA added that these confessions relate to the fact that the agency has ties to Hamas and that its employees participated in the attacks of last October 7 (Al-Aqsa Flood).

This information was contained in an UNRWA report dated last February, which Reuters said it had seen, and which includes accounts from Palestinians, including UNRWA employees, about their exposure to ill-treatment in Israeli prisons.

UNRWA Communications Director Juliette Touma said the agency intends to hand over the information contained in the unpublished 11-page report to agencies inside and outside the United Nations that specialize in documenting potential human rights violations.

"When the war ends, there must be a series of investigations to look into all human rights violations," she added.

The Israeli occupation bombed UNRWA headquarters and centers during its war on the Gaza Strip (Reuters)

Torture and threats

The report stated that the Israeli army arrested several Palestinian UNRWA employees and that the ill-treatment and violations to which they said they were subjected included severe physical beatings, waterboarding, and threats to harm family members.

The report also stated, “The agency’s employees were subjected to threats and coercion by the Israeli authorities during their detention, and were pressured to make false statements against the agency.”

Reuters said that UNRWA refused a request to view the transcripts of the interviews it conducted, which contain accusations of making false confessions under duress.

UNRWA employs 13,000 people in Gaza, and provides daily assistance to more than half of the Strip's population of 2.2 million people.

The funding freeze carried out by the United States and other Western countries increased pressure on the agency, which was already suffering from severe pressure during the war that has been going on for more than 5 months.

Israel accused 12 UNRWA employees of participating in the attacks launched by Hamas on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip, and said that 10% of all employees of the UN agency belong to Hamas, which was denied by the agency, other UN agencies, and Western intelligence agencies.

It is noteworthy that UNRWA dismissed two workers in Gaza against the backdrop of Israeli accusations, and announced last January the opening of an independent investigation into the Israeli accusations regarding the involvement of its workers in the Hamas attack.

UNRWA was established by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949, and was mandated to provide assistance and protection to refugees in 5 regions: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

Its work aims to reach a just solution to the refugee tragedy.

Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters