‘Den of Antisemitism’: Hamas Held Israeli Hostages in UNRWA Camps

Latest Developments

Israeli Hostages Held in UN camp: The three female Israeli hostages released last weekend following the ceasefire in Gaza revealed on January 21 that they were incarcerated in a refugee camp operated by UNRWA — the United Nations agency catering exclusively to the descendants of Palestinian refugees — for part of their time in Hamas captivity, according to Israel’s Channel 13 network. Details as to which of the eight camps run by UNRWA in Gaza were used have not been made available. Following the October 7, 2023, atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel, in which several UNRWA employees participated, Israel accused the agency of actively colluding with the Iran-backed terrorist organization, passing legislation last October barring it from operating in the Jewish state.
Trump Halts UNRWA Funding: Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump halted U.S. funding for UNRWA via an executive order on his first day in office on January 20. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, strongly criticized UNRWA and labeled the United Nations a “den of antisemitism” during her Senate confirmation hearing on January 21.
Hamas Kept Hostages in Hospitals: According to an exclusive report from Fox News Digital, Hamas terrorists captured by Israel confessed that Israeli hostages had been imprisoned in the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza at different times during their ordeal. Anas Muhammad Faiz al-Sharif, one of the terrorists in Israeli custody, was quoted as describing the hospital — which was raided by IDF troops on December 28, resulting in the arrest of more than 200 terrorists — as “a safe haven for them because the [Israeli] military cannot directly target it.”

FDD Expert Response

“We already knew that UNRWA employed Hamas terrorists, shared its infrastructure with Hamas, and allowed Hamas to use its facilities as bases of operations. Now, we learn it also provided a safe haven for Hamas to hold hostages. We need to stop thinking about UNRWA as merely a supporter of Hamas and start internalizing the extent to which the agency is a front for Hamas.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“Hamas is playing with house money by using UNRWA facilities as cover. If Israel tries to rescue its hostages, it risks harming bystanders in a UN facility. If Israel chooses to avoid this risk, Hamas benefits from its use of human shields by retaining Israeli hostages in captivity. And international media, humanitarian groups, and the United Nations reward this strategy when they criticize Israel for operating in humanitarian zones that Hamas has turned into battlefields.” — David May, Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst