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UNRWA Teacher Held Israeli Hostage in Attic for Almost 50 Days: Report

Palestinian Hamas militants (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
November 29, 2023

A teacher with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reportedly held an Israeli hostage taken captive by Hamas on Oct. 7 in an attic.

The teacher, a father of 10 children, kept the hostage for almost 50 days, barely provided food, and neglected the hostage's medical needs, Israeli Channel 13's Almog Boker reported Wednesday. A Gazan doctor also held another hostage, according to Boker.

A spokeswoman for the UNRWA acknowledged the allegations but declined to comment.

There have been multiple reports of ordinary Gazsans' involvement in Hamas's military operations. One Israeli hostage, 25-year-old Roni Krivoi, broke free from his Hamas captors for four days before Gazans recaptured him and brought him back to the terrorists.

The Washington Free Beacon reported last month that hundreds of ordinary Gazans followed Hamas terrorists into Israel on Oct. 7 to join in the attacks.

This is also not the first time UNRWA has come under fire for its employees' alleged support for Hamas. Earlier this month, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education reported that 13 UNRWA employees, 7 of them teachers, celebrated Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks, an allegation the agency denied.