Middle East

Gazan detainees traumatised by Israeli abuses, says Unrwa director

Men, women and children aged between six and 82 were among more than 1,000 people released without charge after months or weeks of imprisonment. Thousands of others remain captive

Unrwa director Philippe Lazzarini said his agency has drawn up a report based on interviews with freed Palestinian detainees. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Michael Jansen
Tue Mar 5 2024 - 15:27

Gazan civilians released from detention by Israeli forces have been “completely traumatised” by a wide range of abuses during their captivity, according to the director of the United Nations agency caring for Palestinian refugees.

Unrwa’s chief Philippe Lazzarini said the returnees reported they had been photographed naked, deprived of sleep, threatened with electric shocks and terrorised by dogs. “We have seen these people coming back from detention, some of them [having been held] for a couple of weeks, some of them for a couple of months, and most of them coming back [are] completely traumatised by the ordeal they have gone through,” Mr Lazzarini said. Detainees had been “debriefed about their ordeal and we have [drawn up] an internal report about their experiences,” he added. The report has been given to human rights groups.

Some were arrested in the north of Gaza when sheltering in schools and hospitals or at checkpoints when fleeing south on Israeli instructions, Unrwa says. Others were Gazans employed in Israel who were unable to return home after war erupted.

Held at temporary facilities in Israel, men, women and children aged between six and 82 were interrogated and released without charge after months or weeks of imprisonment. Unrwa estimated that about 3,000 Gazans remain detained without recourse to lawyers.

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Unrwa staff interviewed more than 100 of the 1,002 freed detainees after they crossed from Israel into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. They reported being stripped, beaten, robbed, tied up and blindfolded for hours, threatened with electric shocks, sexually abused and given no access to doctors, even though some suffered from dementia and cancer. Some others were said to have died.

The Unrwa report concludes that harsh treatment “was used to extract information or confessions, to intimidate and humiliate, and to punish”. Detainees’ testimonies are to be added to report.

In response to the report, the Israeli military denied “general and unsubstantiated claims regarding sexual abuse of detainees in the [army’s] detention facilities”.

The Unrwa release followed fresh unproven Israeli allegations that 450 agency employees were Hamas members. Mr Lazzarini says Israel has still not provided evidence that a dozen Unrwa employees were involved in the October 7th Hamas-led attack on Israel. The Unrwa chief promptly fired accused employees and initiated an investigation into the Israeli claims, while the US and its allies suspended some $450 million (€415 million) in funding for the agency. The European Commission last week stepped in with €50 million to fund Unrwa services through this month.

The Unrwa report coincided with the release of a UN investigation which stated there were “reasonable grounds to believe” rapes were perpetrated during the Hamas attack and that taken to Gaza have also been raped.

Michael Jansen

Michael Jansen

Michael Jansen contributes news from and analysis of the Middle East to The Irish Times

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