Over 50 UNRWA employees detained, abused, tortured by Israel

The Israeli occupation army has detained, abused and tortured more than 50 employees working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza since the start of the war on the enclave in October 2023, UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, revealed yesterday.

In a post on X platform, Lazzarini said the UN agency’s employees included teachers, doctors and social workers, adding that he had received “awful testimony from a colleague” who wished “for death to end the nightmare” that he was living through.

“I wished for death to end the nightmare I was living through”.

Received this awful testimony from a colleague who was rounded up in #Gaza tortured while in Israeli detention and finally released.

For @UNRWA staff humanitarian duty is met with brutality.
Since the start of…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) April 29, 2025

Lazzarini pointed out that UNRWA staff members’ humanitarian duty was met with brutality, adding that they were treated in the most horrific and brutal ways, including being beaten and used as human shields.

Torture methods used against them included sleep deprivation, humiliation, threats to harm them and their families, being attacked by dogs and forced to make confessions, he outlined.

Lazzarini described the situation as “horrific and shameful,” emphasising that humanitarian workers are not a target and their suffering must not be ignored.

He also called for justice and accountability for the violations of international law committed in the Gaza Strip, stressing that achieving justice for frontline humanitarian workers is not an option, but a duty.

At least 284 UNRWA staff members, including teachers, doctors and nurses, have been killed during Israel’s genocidal bombing of Gaza since October 2023.

READ: Hamas says starvation of Gaza is a war crime showing ‘disregard’ for international community