Accusations and unkind exchanges are increasing between Israel and the United Nations (UN) Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). Confirming information from New York Timesthe head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, announced that there was an internal report from the UN agency, not made public, relating to “hundreds of prisoners released” by Israel, via the Kerem Shalom crossing point, and having suffered ill-treatment.
Even though UNRWA is not responsible for issues related to incarcerations, being the only agency present in Kerem Shalom, it has collected testimonies. “We saw these people coming back 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.
“This is a wide range of mistreatment”he added. “People systematically humiliated, people photographed naked, subject to verbal and psychological abuse, threats of electrocution”or “sleep deprivation, the use of extreme noise to prevent sleep”, “using dogs to intimidate”. Some of these prisoners were UNRWA employees, he noted.
The agency had earlier Monday accused Israeli authorities of committing acts of ” torture “ against some of its employees arrested in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. “Our employees told us atrocious things during their detention and interrogation by the Israeli authorities” like the “torture, ill-treatment, abuse and sexual exploitation”she said in a press release sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Some of our employees reported to UNRWA teams that they had been forced to make confessions under torture” when they were “questioned about relations between UNRWA and Hamas and involvement in the October 7 attack on Israel”she added.
Israel accuses UN of being ‘a terrorist organization in Gaza’
The authorities of the Jewish state have rejected these accusations. In a statement, the Israeli army denied “blanket and unfounded accusations of sexual abuse of detainees in Israeli armed forces facilities”. “These assertions are yet another attempt to create false equivalences with Hamas’s systematic use of rape as a weapon of war.”she added.
An episode in tense relations between Israel and the UN had already taken place earlier, on Monday, when the Jewish state recalled its ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, to denounce the ” silence “ by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on alleged sexual violence by Hamas during the October 7 attacks. Israel accuses the UN of trying to suppress a report recounting rapes and sexual assaults during the Islamist movement’s attack, which Mr. Guterres strongly denied.
The work of the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, whose report was published on Monday, “was done carefully and diligently. Under no circumstances will the general secretary [Antonio Guterres] did anything to keep this report quiet”, assured Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the General Secretariat of the United Nations. This report establishes that there are “good reasons to believe” that victims of October 7 were raped, as were some hostages held in Gaza.
“It took the United Nations five months to finally recognize sex crimes”commented Gilad Erdan, referring to the “shame of the UN exposed for all to see”. Israel has accused the international organization for several months of being slow to recognize the sexual violence committed by members of Hamas during the October 7 attack.
In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Erdan also accused the UN “of itself being a terrorist organization in Gaza”. A reference in particular to the accusations brought at the end of January against twelve of the 30,000 regional UNRWA employees who, according to Israel, participated in the attacks of October 7 which led to the death of 1,160 people, mainly civilians, according to a count by the AFP. The UN immediately separated the accused employees who were still alive and an internal investigation was launched.
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At the same time, Antonio Guterres entrusted an independent group with a mission to evaluate UNRWA and its “neutrality”. The UN notes that, so far, Israel has not shared any evidence of its accusations with investigators or UNRWA.
But Israel again accused UNRWA on Monday of counting in its ranks “terrorists”. “According to intelligence services, more than 450 people belonging to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, mainly Hamas, are also employed by UNRWA”the Israeli army said in a statement.
UNRWA at “a breaking point”
In this context of exchanges of accusations and denials, many countries defended the agency before the General Assembly, which created UNRWA in 1949. “Two million people are totally dependent on UNRWA services”, underlined the Ambassador of Yemen, Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al-Saadi, on behalf of the Arab countries, calling on donors to resume their financing. Around fifteen countries have in fact suspended their funding, for a total of 450 million dollars (around 415 million euros), the equivalent of more than half of the funds received in 2023.
Philippe Lazzarini denounced a “deliberate and concerted campaign to undermine” the operations of ” spine “ of humanitarian aid to Gaza, with the ultimate aim of ” stop “. “Dismantling UNRWA is reckless. In doing so, we will sacrifice an entire generation of children, sowing the seeds of hatred, resentment and future conflict.”he insisted.
Mr. Lazzarini, however, welcomed the new contributions announced. The European Commission has notably released 50 million euros. The agency “can thus continue its operations and provide vital assistance to Palestinian refugees throughout the region”he noted. ” But for how long ? ” ” Hard to say “he said, still describing an organization with “a breaking point”.