Israeli army reportedly arrests UNRWA Palestinian workers while moving to southern Gaza

By Hosni Nadim

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army arrested a number of workers at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees or UNRWA while they were moving to Rafah in southern Gaza, a witness told Anadolu on Wednesday.

Speaking to Anadolu reporter, a Palestinian woman, Fatema Abou Jou'eid, said the UNRWA workers were arrested on Monday as they were fleeing to Rafah from Khan Younis, but did not provide a specific number.

"Those arrested UNRWA workers have no links to any Palestinian groups," she said.

"I don't know why those youths (UNRWA workers) were arrested, we were stopped at an Israeli military checkpoint, erected between Rafah and Khan Younis," she added.

There were no comments from the Israeli side on their arrest.

The arrest of UNRWA workers came as Tel Aviv alleged that some of the agency’s employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

The Israeli claims pushed some 17 countries, including the US, EU, France, Germany, Japan, and others, to suspend their funds to the agency.

Meanwhile, the witness also said the Israeli army violently arrested dozens of young Palestinians in Khan Younis, and took them to unknown locations.

The Khan Younis area has been under intense Israeli attacks in the past 10 days, ordering people to move immediately to Rafah.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing at least 26,750 Palestinians and injuring over 65,600. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar