[News] UNRWA staffers tortured by Israeli troops to falsely admit 'Hamas links'

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 UNRWA staffers tortured by Israeli troops to falsely admit 'Hamas links'

Israel has sought for years to dismantle the UN agency to destroy
Palestinian refugees' right of return

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

MAR 9, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/unrwa-staffers-tortured-by-israeli-troops-to-falsely-admit-hamas-links
(Photo credit: Reuters)

An unpublished report from UNRWA said some of its employees released from
Israeli detention were tortured into falsely stating that the agency has
Hamas links and that staff took part in the 7 October attacks, *Reuters*
reported
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/unrwa-report-says-israel-coerced-some-agency-employees-falsely-admit-hamas-links-2024-03-08/>
on
9 March.

The testimonies are contained in a report by the UN Relief and Works Agency
(UNRWA) reviewed by *Reuters *and dated February 2024.

"Agency staff members have been subject to threats and coercion by the
Israeli authorities while in detention and pressured to make false
statements against the Agency, including that the Agency has affiliations
with Hamas and that UNRWA staff members took part in the 7 October 2023
atrocities," the report says.

The report included allegations of abuse and torture in Israeli detention,
including severe physical beatings, waterboarding, and threats of harm to
family members.

Though waterboarding is widely viewed as torture by human rights groups,
the *Reuters* report described Israeli actions only as "coercion" and
"pressure" to force detained Palestinians to make false statements.

In addition to describing the torture of UNRWA employees, the report stated
that Israel has subjected Palestinian detainees more broadly to beatings,
humiliation, threats, dog attacks, and sexual violence. Some detainees have
also died after Israel denied them medical treatment, the report added.

UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma said the agency planned to
hand the information in the 11-page, unpublished report to human rights
investigators at UN agencies and outside rights groups.

"When the war comes to an end there needs to be a series of inquiries to
look into all violations of human rights," she said.

Amid the torture and medical neglect, 27 Palestinians have died
<https://www.newarab.com/news/27-palestinians-died-israeli-jails-7-october> in
Israeli prisons since the start of the war on 7 October.

Israel has accused UNRWA employees of participation in the 7 October Hamas
attack on Israeli settlements and military bases. Israel provided no
evidence for the claim, but 16 countries, including the US, paused $450
million in UNRWA funding in response, throwing its aid operations into
crisis just as starvation was beginning to grip Gaza.

Israel's campaign against UNRWA is part of a broader campaign
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23350> started years ago to dismantle the
agency, which helps keep the hope of Palestinian refugees returning to
their stolen lands and homes in what is now Israel alive.
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