The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) accused Israel of torturing a number of its employees whom it arrested in the Gaza Strip against the backdrop of the war that Israel has been waging on the Strip since October 7.

The agency said - in a statement - that its employees "talked about horrific events during their arrest and interrogation by the Israeli authorities. These reports include torture, severe ill-treatment, assault and sexual exploitation."

UNRWA added that "a number of our employees informed our teams that they were forced to make confessions under torture and ill-treatment," during their interrogation regarding the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

It stressed that "these forced confessions as a result of torture are used by the Israeli authorities to spread more misleading information about the agency as part of their attempts to dismantle UNRWA," warning that "this puts our employees in Gaza at risk, and has dangerous consequences for our operations in Gaza and the region."

UNRWA indicated that it had filed a written protest with Israel regarding the arrest of its employees without receiving any response.

CNN said that it had obtained a copy of an unpublished report prepared by UNRWA, in which it stated that Israel was committing widespread physical and psychological violations against Palestinians detained in Gaza during the war.

The report, which has not yet been published - according to CNN - is based largely on the testimony of Gazan detainees held in Israeli prisons and military sites who were released again and returned to the Gaza Strip.

In his speech before the United Nations General Assembly, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that there is no safe place for the residents of Gaza to go, and he warned that despite all the atrocities they have experienced and witnessed, it seems that the worst has not yet happened.

The UNRWA Commissioner also warned that the attack on Rafah, where about 1.4 million displaced people are concentrated, appears to be imminent, stressing that the agency has no ability to absorb financial shocks, especially in light of the escalation of the war in Gaza.

Israeli accusations

On the other hand, an Israeli army spokesman said that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza had employed more than 450 militants from the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and other armed groups, and that Israel had sent this intelligence information to the United Nations.

He added, "We sent this information, which I am announcing now, and other intelligence information, to our international partners, including the United Nations."

In response, UNRWA said that it welcomes all information that can be included in the independent investigation currently being conducted by the United Nations.

“UNRWA encourages any entity with any information about the very serious allegations against its staff to share it with the ongoing UN investigation,” said Juliette Touma, the agency’s director of communications.

UNRWA employs 13,000 people in Gaza, and provides daily assistance to more than half of the Strip's population of 2.3 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 about 5 months.

Sacrificing an entire generation

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned yesterday, Monday, before the United Nations General Assembly that the dismantling of UNRWA, which Israel is demanding, would lead to the sacrifice of “an entire generation of children” and “sow the seeds” of future conflicts.

Philippe Lazzarini said, “Dismantling UNRWA is a reckless step. By doing so, we will sacrifice an entire generation of children and sow the seeds of hatred and resentment and a future conflict,” considering that it is “naive” to believe that the agency’s demise can occur without threatening peace. and global security.

Lazzarini had warned in a letter to the President of the General Assembly in late February that the agency had reached “a breaking point with Israel’s repeated calls to dismantle it and freeze donor funding in the face of unprecedented humanitarian needs in Gaza.”