The head of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, spoke of “hundreds of prisoners released” by Israel at the Kerem Shalom crossing point having suffered mistreatment. For its part, the Israeli army accuses UNRWA of employing 450 “terrorists”.
Confirming information from the New York Times, Unrwa, the only agency present in Kerem Shalom, has collected testimonies from prisoners released by Israel who testify to mistreatment. “We saw these people return from detention, some after a few weeks, some after a few months. And most of them completely traumatized by the ordeal they had experienced“, explained Philippe Lazzarini.
The agency accused Israeli authorities on Monday of committing acts of “torture” against some of its employees arrested in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.Our employees told us horrific things during their detention and interrogation by Israeli authorities” such as “torture, mistreatment, abuse and sexual exploitation”, the agency says in a press release.
In a statement, UNRWA accused Israel of detaining several of its employees and forcing them, through torture and ill-treatment, to make false confessions about links between the agency, Hamas and October 7 attack on Israel.
“These forced confessions, obtained under torture, are used by Israeli authorities to spread false information about the agency as part of attempts to dismantle UNRWA“, the press release said. “This puts our personnel in Gaza at risk and has serious implications for our operations in Gaza and the region..”
Unrwa points out a campaign “deliberate” For “undermine its operations” And “put an end to it“
The head of the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said on Monday that his agency “is facing a deliberate and concerted campaign to undermine and ultimately end its operations“.
Philippe Lazzarini said UNRWA would soon be unable to fulfill its mandate due to funding cuts resulting from Israel’s allegations that the agency’s employees were complicit in Hamas attacks in October.
“The agency’s operations are mandated by this House and part of this campaign involves inundating donors with false information designed to create distrust and tarnish the agency’s reputation. Even more egregious, Israeli Prime Minister openly declares that UNRWA will not be part of the post-war Gaza Strip“, declared Philippe Lazzarini.
Philippe Lazzarini added that the implementation of this plan was “already underway with the destruction of our infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip“.
Philippe Lazzarini emphasized that “only UNRWA has the footprint and capacity to provide services, including education and primary health care at scale, in the absence of a full-fledged state authority“.
“Conspicuously absent from discussions on the transfer of service provision to Gaza is the education of half a million deeply traumatized children living amid rubble.“, did he declare.
Unrwa, which employs around 13,000 people in Gaza, is the main aid provider in the enclave.
Israel accuses UNRWA of employing more than 450 “terrorists“
The same day, allegations made on the Israeli side further fueled the escalation and the standoff with the agency.
“More than 450 UNRWA employees are military agents of terrorist groups in Gaza. This is not a mere coincidence. It is systematic. It is not possible to claim ‘we didn’t know’ ” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel’s main military spokesman. No evidence, no names, have been provided to support his accusation.
Major international donors have withheld hundreds of millions of dollars from the agency, known as UNRWA, since Israel accused 12 of its employees of participating in Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 , which killed 1,200 people and left around 250 others hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
After Israel’s initial accusations against UNRWA, the agency fired the accused employees and more than a dozen countries suspended funding amounting to about $450 million, almost half of its budget for the year.
Juliette Touma, UNRWA communications director, did not comment directly on the new Israeli allegations. “UNRWA encourages any entity with information on the very serious allegations against UNRWA personnel to share it with the ongoing UN investigation” she said.
Two UN investigations into Israel’s allegations were already underway when the EU said on Friday it would pay 50 million euros to UNRWA after the agency agreed to have experts appointed by the EU is checking how it screens its staff to identify extremists.
