UN refugee agency reports torture, mistreatment of staff by Israeli army

The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said Friday that its staff from the Gaza Strip detained by the Israeli army were exposed to mistreatment and torture.

"In Gaza, it (UNRWA) has paid a terrible price, 195 of our colleagues killed and nearly 190 installations damaged or destroyed, killing over 500 people seeking United Nations protection," the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said at a news conference.

While there is not an exact number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces from Gaza, their numbers are estimated to be in the thousands, according to Palestinian figures.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

More than 38,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 88,300 injured, according to local health authorities.

Read: UN reports no safe haven for Palestinian families in Gaza City

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.