{"id":26122,"date":"2024-03-05T00:26:04","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T00:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketmakersjournal.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/05\/un-agency-accuses-israel-of-detaining-coercing-staffers-into-false-confessions-about-ties-to-hamas\/"},"modified":"2024-03-05T00:26:04","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T00:26:04","slug":"un-agency-accuses-israel-of-detaining-coercing-staffers-into-false-confessions-about-ties-to-hamas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketmakersjournal.com\/2024\/03\/05\/un-agency-accuses-israel-of-detaining-coercing-staffers-into-false-confessions-about-ties-to-hamas\/","title":{"rendered":"UN agency accuses Israel of detaining, coercing staffers into false confessions about ties to Hamas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Monday accused Israel of detaining and torturing some of its staffers, coercing them into making false confessions about the agency\u2019s ties to Hamas. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome of our staff have conveyed to UNRWA teams that they were forced to (make) confessions under torture and ill-treatment. These false confessions were in response to questioning about relations between UNRWA and Hamas and involvement in the 7 October attack against Israel,\u201d UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Touma said that false confessions elicited \u201cunder torture\u201d were being used \u201cto further spread misinformation about the Agency as part of attempts to dismantle UNRWA,\u201d but did not tie those confessions to the allegations against the 12 staffers accused of participating in the October 7\u00a0attacks. <\/p>\n

The allegations are part of an as yet unpublished report compiled by UNRWA alleging Israel\u2019s widespread physical and psychological abuse of Palestinians detained in Gaza during the war, including 21 UNRWA staff members, some of whom said they were beaten and threatened. <\/p>\n

The detainees cited in the report gave testimony of beatings, sleep deprivation, sexual abuse and threats of sexual violence against both men and women detained by the Israeli military. Some of the detainees are also reported to have died while in Israeli custody, at times allegedly as a result of the abuse they suffered in detention. <\/p>\n

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to the allegations about the torture and detention of UNRWA staffers, but said in a statement that \u201cthe mistreatment of detainees during their time in detention or whilst under interrogation violates IDF values and contravenes IDF orders and is therefore absolutely prohibited.\u201d It said that investigations into the deaths of detainees are investigated by the military police and are currently pending. <\/p>\n

The Israeli military forcefully denied claims of sexual abuse of detainees, calling them \u201canother cynical attempt to create a false equivalency with the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war by Hamas.\u201d It also denied that detainees are deprived of sleep and said detainees have access to medical care. <\/p>\n

UNRWA estimates that at least 4,000\u00a0Gazans\u00a0have been detained by the Israeli military since the start of the war.\u00a0As of February 19, the agency had documented the detention of 29 children and 80 women, as well as elderly individuals with Alzheimer\u2019s and people with intellectual disabilities. <\/p>\n

\u201cUNRWA received widespread reports from released detainees of ill-treatment across all stages of detention. According to individuals released from detention, ill-treatment was used in attempts to extract information or confessions, to intimidate and humiliate, and to punish,\u201d says the UNRWA report, which was first reported by the New York Times. <\/p>\n

The report also says that in each of the releases it monitored at Kerem Shalom, \u201cambulances were required to immediately transport some person due to their injuries or illness.\u201d <\/p>\n

The detainees reported being held and interrogated at military sites in Israel, sometimes for weeks on end, before being transferred into the Israeli prison system. <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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