Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Israel on Monday accused the UN agency for Palestinian refugees of employing hundreds of “terrorists”, shortly after the embattled agency said Israeli authorities had tortured some of its staff.
UNRWA has faced a funding crisis since Israel in January accused about a dozen of its employees of involvement in the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel.
An international uproar has led to the agency, which provides vital aid to Gaza, having its funding slashed.
Two UN investigations into Israel’s allegations are ongoing.
The European Commission, the third biggest donor to UNRWA after the US and Germany, has demanded a separate audit and wants to appoint experts to carry it out.
On Monday, Israel vastly increased the scope of its accusations against UNRWA, saying the agency employed more than 450 terrorists from groups including Hamas.
“According to intelligence, over 450 terrorists belonging to terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip, mainly Hamas, are also employed by UNRWA,” an Israeli military statement said.
The military released what it said were recordings of “a terrorist working as an Arabic teacher at an UNRWA school … describing his entry into Israeli territory and stating that he is holding female Israeli hostages” during the October 7 attack by Hamas.
The allegations came after UNRWA accused Israeli authorities of detaining and mistreating several of its staff from the Gaza Strip.
Why are western countries cutting funding to UNRWA? - video
“Our staff have reported atrocious events while they were detained and during interrogations by the Israeli authorities,” UNRWA said in a statement to The National.
"These reports included torture, severe ill-treatment, abuse and sexual exploitation.
“Some of our staff have conveyed to UNRWA teams that they were forced to confessions under torture and ill-treatment” while being asked about Hamas's October 7 attack.
“These forced confessions as a result of torture are being used by the Israeli authorities to further spread misinformation about the agency as part of attempts to dismantle UNRWA.
“This is putting our staff in Gaza at risk and has serious implications on our operations in Gaza and around the region.”
UNRWA said it still has not received a response from Israeli authorities.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, accused Israel of waging a “deliberate and concerted” campaign against the agency to undermine its operations, and “ultimately” end them.
“Part of this campaign involves inundating donors with misinformation designed to foster distrust and tarnish the reputation of the agency,” Mr Lazzarini said.
“More blatant is the Israeli Prime Minister openly stating that UNRWA will not be a part of postwar Gaza.”
Speaking to reporters late on Monday, Mr Lazzarini confirmed that the UN agency is preparing to publish a report based on testimonies of more than 100 people that accused Israeli troops of abuse.
"We heard stories of people not only having been systematically, humiliated we had quite a lot about people have been being obliged to be naked picture naked, being subjected of verbal and psychological abuse," said Mr Lazzarini.
"There have been the threat of use of electrocution ... a lot of sleep deprivation ... use of dogs to intimidate the people."
He also mentioned that he had heard a number of "humiliating situations" in which people, ranging in age from 15 to over 80, were forced to wear diapers due to lack of access to toilets for "days, if not weeks".
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Honeymoonish
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Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
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4AD
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
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Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
Favourite film: Robocop, followed by The Terminator.
Hobbies: Off-roading, scuba diving, playing squash and going to the gym.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
MATCH INFO
AC Milan v Inter, Sunday, 6pm (UAE), match live on BeIN Sports
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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Veere di Wedding
Dir: Shashanka Ghosh
Starring: Kareena Kapoo-Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania
Verdict: 4 Stars
