Over 50 UNRWA Workers Arrested by Israel: ‘They Have Suffered Violence and Abuse’

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has faced severe criticism since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip, with Israeli authorities accusing it of ties to Hamas. In Israel’s unofficial ‘war’ against UNRWA, more than 50 of its employees have been arrested and subjected to inhumane treatment since 2023, according to UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini on April 29, 2025. UNRWA clarified that currently no staff member is detained by Israel. Israel adopted a law targeting some UNRWA workers accused of participating in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. ‘Since the start of the conflict in October 2023, over 50 UNRWA staff members, including educators, doctors, and social workers, have been arrested and mistreated,’ Lazzarini emphasized. ‘They were treated in the most shocking and inhumane ways possible.’ Reports suggest detainees were beaten, used as human shields, deprived of sleep, humiliated, threatened with violence against them and their families, and attacked by dogs. Many were forced into false confessions. ‘It’s simply terrible and scandalous,’ Lazzarini stressed. The Israeli military has not yet commented on these allegations.