UNRWA accuses Israeli occupation of using 50 of its employees as human shields in Gaza

GAZA, April 29 (YPA) – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed, on Tuesday, that more than 50 of its employees were mistreated and used as human shields when they were detained by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on his X account: “Since the start of the war in October 2023, more than 50 UNRWA employees, including teachers, doctors, and social workers, have been detained and subjected to mistreatment.”

Lazzarini revealed that they were “Treated in the most horrific and inhumane ways, and reported being beaten and used as human shields.”

He presented the testimony of one of the employees who had been detained by the Israeli occupation forces and who was later released.

In his testimony, the employee said: “I wished for death so that this nightmare I was living would end.”

Lazzarini explained that the detainees were “Deprived of sleep, humiliated, threatened with harm to their families, and had dogs set on them,” noting that “Many of them were forced to make forced confessions, which is horrific and outrageous by any standard.”

Lazzarini’s remarks came as the International Court of Justice began a week of hearings, on Monday, on Israel’s humanitarian obligations towards the Palestinians, more than 50 days after it imposed a comprehensive blockade on the entry of goods and aid into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.