UN Reports Over 50 Gaza Aid Workers Abused in Israeli Custody

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, 29 April 2025 (BSS/AFP) – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has alleged that more than 50 of its staff members in Gaza have been subjected to abuse, including being used as human shields, while in Israeli military detention.

Since the onset of the Gaza conflict in October 2023, UNRWA reports that a wide range of its personnel—teachers, doctors, and social workers among them—have been detained under harsh and degrading conditions. In a statement issued on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the treatment, describing it as “shocking and inhumane.”

“They reported being beaten and used as human shields,” Lazzarini stated. “This is nothing short of harrowing and outrageous.”

One former detainee shared a harrowing account with UNRWA, saying, “I wished for death to end this nightmare I was living through.” Lazzarini added that detainees faced sleep deprivation, physical abuse, threats against their families, humiliation, and even attacks by military dogs. Several were allegedly coerced into making false confessions.

The Israeli military has not issued an official response to these latest allegations.

Tensions between Israel and UNRWA have sharply escalated in recent months. Israel barred the agency from operating within its borders earlier this year, accusing certain UNRWA staff members of complicity in Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks—a claim for which, according to independent investigators, no substantive evidence has been made public.

This incident adds further complexity to an already strained humanitarian situation in Gaza, where aid efforts are increasingly paralysed. Israel’s ongoing blockade of the enclave, now in its seventh month, has triggered widespread food insecurity and the collapse of medical infrastructure, drawing international concern.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently holding hearings involving dozens of states and organisations to examine Israel’s legal and humanitarian obligations under international law. Although Israel has declined to participate, it has condemned the proceedings as biased.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded forcefully on Sunday, declaring, “It is not Israel that should be on trial. It is the UN and UNRWA,” further intensifying the diplomatic standoff.

The latest accusations by UNRWA add to the growing international scrutiny of the war in Gaza, especially concerning the treatment of civilians and aid workers amidst military operations.