Israel and UN trade allegations of terrorism, torture

UNITED NATIONS, March 5: Israel recalled its ambassador to the UN on Monday as tensions erupted over the handling of allegations of sexual assault by Hamas militants during the October 7 attacks.
Israel has accused the United Nations of taking too long to respond to the claims, a charge the UN has robustly defended itself against as it published a report detailing evidence of Hamas rapes and assaults.
At the heart of the increasingly bitter row is the embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which has already seen funding pulled by multiple Western countries after Israel accused about a dozen of its employees of involvement in the October 7 attack.
On Monday UNRWA said members of its own staff had been tortured by Israel, even as the Israeli military said the agency had employed more than 450 "terrorists."
The military also 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" following the October 7 attack.    —AFP