UN Agency Condemns Israel for Alleged Coercion of Staff Members into False Confessions Regarding Hamas Links
The UN agency dedicated to Palestinian refugees has condemned Israel for reportedly detaining and pressuring its employees, forcing them to provide false confessions about alleged connections to Hamas.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has accused Israel of detaining and torturing some of its staff members. These staffers were allegedly coerced into making false confessions about the agency’s supposed ties to Hamas.
According to UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma, some employees reported being forced to make confessions under torture and ill-treatment. These false confessions were said to be related to questions about the relationship between UNRWA and Hamas, as well as their alleged involvement in an attack against Israel on October 7th.
Israel has accused some UN Relief and Works Agency staff of involvement in the October 7 terrorist attacks. They claim that around 12% of UNRWA's 13,000 employees are linked to Hamas or other Palestinian militant groups. Israeli officials obtained information about the 12 accused staff through cell phone data and other sources. UNRWA has stated that 10 of the accused staff have been fired, while the other two are deceased. CNN has not been able to verify these claims.
Touma has mentioned that false confessions obtained "under torture" are being used to spread misinformation about UNRWA. These confessions are part of efforts to undermine the Agency, but Touma did not connect them specifically to the allegations against the 12 staff members accused in the October 7 attacks.
Palestinians in Gaza City are assessing the destruction of UNRWA buildings as they return home following the Israeli army's withdrawal from the northern part of the city on 10 February 2024.
10 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians examine the damage to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) buildings on their way back to their homes in the wake of the Israeli army withdrew from North of Gaza City. Photo: Omar Ishaq/dpa (Photo by Omar Ishaq/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has issued a warning that it may need to stop all operations by the end of the month. This comes as a result of a report by UNRWA, which has not been released yet, accusing Israel of physically and psychologically abusing Palestinians detained in Gaza during the war. Shockingly, 21 UNRWA staff members were also reportedly subjected to beatings and threats.
The leaked report, obtained by CNN, is mainly based on the accounts of Gazan prisoners who were held in Israeli jails or military facilities and later released at the Kerem Shalom border crossing between December and February. According to a spokesperson from UNRWA, the agency had not yet decided whether to make the report public when it was leaked.
In the report, the detainees described being subjected to beatings, lack of sleep, sexual abuse, and threats of sexual violence by the Israeli military. Tragically, some of the detainees are said to have died while in Israeli custody, with some deaths allegedly linked to the mistreatment they endured.
CNN has previously reported on similar allegations of abuse by Palestinian detainees, although it cannot independently verify all the accounts listed in the UNRWA report.
The Israeli military has not yet responded to the allegations regarding the torture and detention of UNRWA staffers. In a statement, they emphasized that mistreatment of detainees goes against IDF values and orders and is strictly prohibited. Investigations into detainee deaths are conducted by the military police and are currently ongoing.
A heartbreaking scene unfolded at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Gaza on February 29, 2024. A mother was seen crying for her baby next to an incubator, where the baby's lifeless body lay. The ongoing Israeli attacks in the north of Gaza have led to a humanitarian crisis, resulting in an increase in infant deaths due to malnutrition and dehydration. 
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Palestinian officials in Gaza report that children are dying from starvation, while Israel and Hamas continue to negotiate sticking points in their ceasefire deal.
The Israeli military has strongly refuted allegations of sexual abuse of detainees, dismissing them as a manipulative tactic to draw a false comparison with Hamas' use of rape as a weapon of war. They also deny claims of sleep deprivation and assure that detainees receive necessary medical attention.
UNRWA reports that since the beginning of the war, over 4,000 Gazans have been detained by the Israeli military. Among them, 29 children, 80 women, elderly individuals with Alzheimer's, and people with intellectual disabilities have been documented as being detained as of February 19.
According to a report by UNRWA, released detainees have reported widespread ill-treatment during their detention. The report, first covered by the New York Times, states that ill-treatment was used to extract information or confessions, intimidate, humiliate, and punish individuals.
The report notes that ambulances had to transport individuals for medical reasons at Kerem Shalom during each release.
Detainees shared their experiences of being held and questioned at military locations in Israel for extended periods before being moved to Israeli prisons.
The UNRWA report revealed that certain detainees experienced being stripped, handcuffed, and left in cold conditions without access to basic necessities like toilets, food, or water for more than 24 hours. In December, detainees speaking to CNN shared similar accounts, mentioning being kept for extended periods with limited access to food and water.
