A hostage recently released from Hamas captivity revealed that she was held in United Nations facilities and denied medical treatment despite severe injuries.
The U.N. Palestinian relief agency said its humanitarian work across the occupied territories and Gaza was still ongoing on Friday despite an Israeli ban that took effect a day before and what it described as hostility towards its staff.
The Israeli government ban on UNRWA over national security concerns and links to terrorism began Jan. 30. UNRWA has called the move by Jerusalem as "disastrous."
Support from Americans has surged for the U.S. nonprofit that raises money for UNRWA, the U.N. agency that serves Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA, the United Nations’ Palestinian relief agency, said it remains operational in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem despite an Israeli ban. The law passed in October forbids UNRWA from operating on Israeli land and from contact with Israeli authorities.
Bill Deere, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA), discussed with ABC News on Wednesday relief efforts in Gaza and Israel, highlighting that Israel's order for the agency to leave Gaza could severely impact humanitarian efforts.
Keith Segel, an American-Israeli in Gaza and the first of American citizens taken on Oct. 7, will be released on Saturday as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasfire deal.
A British - Israeli woman, who was held hostage for 15 months by Hamas in Gaza, has said she was detained in a United Nations facility and denied medical treatment during her captivity.
Hamas said on Friday it would free the father of the youngest hostages seized in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and two others including a dual U.S. citizen and a dual French citizen in the next exchange of Gaza hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas announced the upcoming release of three hostages, including Yarden Bibas, as part of a Gaza hostage exchange. The truce has seen 33 hostages freed, with humanitarian aid surging in Gaza. Despite the ceasefire,
The Israeli organization representing families of hostages in Gaza has celebrated the news that three high-profile men will be released next. In turn, Palestinian authorities say Israel has agreed to release 90 prisoners.