Israel files testimony to World Court regarding hostage held in UNRWA facility
In submission to International Court of Justice defending its legislation banning UNRWA, Israel details involvement of agency staff in October 7 atrocities, terror activity
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Israel has filed a written submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in which it has detailed what it says are the connections of employees of the UNRWA Palestinian aid agency to Hamas and terror activity, including testimony from a freed Israeli hostage that she was held by the terror organization in an UNRWA facility in the Gaza Strip.
In December last year, the ICJ took up a request by the UN General Assembly to issue an advisory opinion on Israeli legislation banning the operations of UNRWA in Israel, and prohibiting state agencies from having any contact with the controversial agency, making its operations in Gaza and the West Bank more difficult.
Israel’s law was challenged in the UN General Assembly by Norway, which claims that it violates international law and what it said were Israel’s obligations to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the civilian population of Gaza, in which UNRWA had played an important role.
On Friday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry (MFA) filed a document to the court opposing what it said was a “distorted process” whose outcome was “predetermined,” and which the MFA said disregarded the involvement of UNRWA staff in the events of Hamas’s October 7 invasion and massacre.
“The process ignores the atrocities of October 7 and the shameful involvement of UNRWA employees in the October 7 massacre and terrorist activities,” said the MFA.
“This is a fundamentally flawed process in which, through the automatic political majority against Israel at the UN, the institutions of international law are used for making political decisions,” the ministry added.
The MFA said that the submission filed to the ICJ “exposes the deliberate bias” in the request for an advisory opinion, as well as “the links of UNRWA employees to Hamas activities, the deep involvement of UNRWA employees in terrorist activities, the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorist activities, and the numerous violations of the neutrality to which UN institutions are committed.”
The Kan public broadcaster reported that the document, which has not been made public, also included testimony from one of the freed Israeli hostages about being held in an UNRWA facility.
In January, Emily Damari, who was held hostage by Hamas for 15 months and has British citizenship, told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer that she was held at UNRWA facilities in Gaza during her time in captivity.
Damari also told Starmer that while she was held at an UNRWA facility, she was only given an out-of-date bottle of iodine to treat the gunshot wounds she sustained to her leg and her left hand during her abduction on October 7, 2023.
In response, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini described the allegations as “deeply disturbing and shocking.” He said that UNRWA had been forced to vacate its installations in the north of Gaza Strip on October 13, 2023, and had not had control over them since that date, adding that the same had happened in other UNRWA facilities in different locations in the territory.
Israel passed its legislation after a series of revelations and Israeli allegations about the connection of some of UNRWA staff to the events of October 7 and to terrorist activity more broadly.
Israel has alleged that dozens of UNRWA officials and staffers directly participated in, and assisted, the October 7 atrocities, and has provided evidence against several of these employees.
UNRWA itself confirmed that Muhammad Abu Attawi, a commander in Hamas’s Nukhba force killed by the IDF in Gaza, who is documented as having murdered civilians in the notorious bomb shelter attack near Re’im on October 7, was a staffer.
Israel has alleged that some 12 percent percent of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions.
In February, IDF troops found a subterranean data center — complete with an electrical room, industrial battery power banks and living quarters for Hamas terrorists operating the computer servers — underneath UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City. The data center was hooked up to the electricity supply in the UNRWA facility above.
Israel has also long-accused UNRWA of fomenting hatred of Israel and Jews, and of inciting violence against them, alleging that 10 percent of senior educators belong to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Numerous reports have been issued regarding the extremism and incitement found in UNRWA’s educational curriculum.
The Times of Israel Community.