The Israeli military today accused the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) of employing “more than 450 terrorists” from Hamas and other organizations in the Gaza Strip.
“According to intelligence services, more than 450 terrorists belonging to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, mainly Hamas, are also employed by UNRWA,” the Israeli armed forces said in a statement.
The military also released a recorded statement of “a terrorist who works as an Arabic teacher at an UNRWA school” who “describes how he entered Israeli territory (on October 7) and says he is holding Israeli women hostage.”
AFP was unable to independently verify these allegations.
UNRWA denounces torture
UNRWA, for its part, today accused the Israeli authorities of torture against some of its workers.
“Some workers reported to UNRWA teams that they were forced to confess under torture and ill-treatment while interrogated about UNRWA’s relations with Hamas and its involvement in the October 7 attack against Israel,” the agency said in a statement sent at the French Agency.
UNRWA is at the center of a confrontation between Israel and the UN. In late January, Israel charged 12 employees of the agency with involvement in the October 7 attack that killed 1,160 people, mostly civilians. The UN immediately removed those workers who were still alive and launched an internal investigation. At the same time, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commissioned an independent panel to examine the “neutrality” of UNRWA.
At the same time, the United Nations notes that Israel has not shared any evidence of its accusations with the investigators or with UNRWA.
Source: RES-MPE
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