US says it wants answers after report alleges Israel abused detained UNRWA staffers

The United States is deeply concerned by claims in a report from the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA that staff and others detained by Israeli forces in Gaza were subjected to ill-treatment, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel says.

Washington will press Israel on the need for a full investigation into allegations regarding UNRWA staff, Patel says, after a report outlined incidents including severe beatings and detainees being forced to strip naked.

In a report published on Tuesday, UNRWA said that staff that were detained, in some cases while performing official duties, were “held incommunicado and subjected to the same conditions and ill-treatment as other detainees,” which it said included several different forms of abuse.

The agency said staff members had said they were subjected to beatings and treatment akin to waterboarding, threats of rape and electrocution, and other forms of ill-treatment.

“UNRWA has made official protests to the Israeli authorities about the reported treatment of agency staff members while they were in Israeli detention centers,” it said. “UNRWA has not received any response to these protests to date.”

The Israeli military has said it acts according to Israeli and international law and those it arrests get access to food, water, medication and proper clothing. The military and the Israel Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claims in the UNRWA report.