Israeli hostages recently released have claimed they were held at one of the UN shelters, raising more speculation that Hamas has been protected by the international body.
Israel’s Channel 13 network reported that during their 471 days in captivity, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher, “were hidden for part of the time in UN shelters.”
The revelations have sparked questions asking whether UNRWA, or at the very least the UN organisation’s staff, were aware of the hostages’ presence. If so, was this reported higher up in the UN? Did they allow Hamas terrorists to reside under their protection?
Whilst the UN shelter did at least protect the hostages for a period, the terrorists knew that the IDF forces would not attack the compound, thereby providing security for themselves as well.
Under international law, civilian hospitals and shelters can lose their protection if they are used to hide combatants or arms. It is also forbidden to use civilian populations, the sick or the injured as human shields.
Therefore, the allegations would be yet another breach of international law committed by Hamas. However, was UNRWA complicit?
It isn’t the first allegation of this kind. According to a report from Fox News Digital, Hamas terrorists captured by Israel confessed that Israeli hostages had been imprisoned in the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza at different times during their ordeal. Anas Muhammad Faiz al-Sharif, one of the terrorists in Israeli custody, was quoted as describing the hospital — which was raided by IDF troops on December 28, resulting in the arrest of more than 200 terrorists — as “a safe haven for them because the [Israeli] military cannot directly target it.”
Richard Goldberg, senior advisor to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), said, “We already knew that UNRWA employed Hamas terrorists, shared its infrastructure with Hamas, and allowed Hamas to use its facilities as bases of operations. Now, we learn it also provided a safe haven for Hamas to hold hostages. We need to stop thinking about UNRWA as merely a supporter of Hamas and start internalizing the extent to which the agency is a front for Hamas.”
“Hamas is playing with house money by using UNRWA facilities as cover,” says David May, also of the FDD said. “If Israel tries to rescue its hostages, it risks harming bystanders in a UN facility. If Israel chooses to avoid this risk, Hamas benefits from its use of human shields by retaining Israeli hostages in captivity. And international media, humanitarian groups, and the United Nations reward this strategy when they criticize Israel for operating in humanitarian zones that Hamas has turned into battlefields.”
The news came just one day after the British government—which has handed millions of pounds in taxpayer cash to the UN agency—urged Israel “not to endanger UNRWA’s ability to operate.”
However this didn’t stop Israel from going ahead this week in outlawing UNRWA from Israel. The ban prevents UNRWA from operating in the eastern part of Jerusalem.
Israel accuses UNRWA of having close links to Hamas in Gaza. Nine UNRWA employees were sacked for taking part in the 7 October attacks after Israel produced evidence proving the their involvement. Many donor countries initially suspended funding but most, including the UK, have since reinstated it.
“UNRWA equals Hamas,” an Israeli government spokesman said. “Israel has made public irrefutable evidence UNRWA is riddled with Hamas operatives.”
Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA follows the decision by President Trump on his first day in office, signing an executive order halting funding to UNRWA for 90 days. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, strongly criticized UNRWA and labelled the United Nations a “den of antisemitism” during her Senate confirmation hearing.
