Ayelet Samerano, the mother of 21-year-old Yonatan Samerano who was brutally murdered on October 7, gave a heart-wrenching testimony and public plea to the UN on Tuesday, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement.
"A UNRWA worker kidnapped my son's body. How can a social worker for an organization that claims to promote good in this world do something so cruel and inhumane? How can the UN pay this man who dragged my son’s limp body on the ground, and then picked him as if he was a trophy back to Gaza?" Samerano pleaded.
Video footage was also shown depicting the horrific kidnapping of Yonatan's lifeless body by Hamas terrorists at Kibbutz Be'eri, the location he had fled to from the NOVA music festival to seek safety. One of the terrorists involved in Yonatan’s death and kidnapping was later confirmed to be a UNRWA employee by a Washington Post investigation.
“How many more lives have been ruined by this person hauling my son like he is not even a human being into a UNRWA vehicle? Does the UN hold my son? Do they know where he is? Bring him back to me. Are there any other hostages held by UN employees even as we speak?" declared Samerano.
UNRWA actively involved in terrorism
Over thirty UNRWA employees participated in the October 7th atrocities, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallant announced the details of 12 UNRWA employees who are members of Hamas and participated in the October 7th massacre last Friday.
Gallant further presented data showing that 12% of the roughly 13,000 UNRWA employees are connected to terrorist organizations in Gaza – 1,468 of the over 1,500 UNRWA employees linked to said groups are even active in Gazan terror groups.
"During the day, Naami is a UNRWA social worker. But at night, he is a cruel Hamas terrorist who kidnaps bodies. On October 7, he kidnapped 21-year-old Yonatan Samerano, dragged his body, and threw him into a UN vehicle,” said Liat Bell Sommer, Head of International Media at The Hostages Families Forum.
"There is evidence of many other UNRWA employees who took part that day. We know of a UNRWA school teacher who held a child hostage captive for over 40 days. The UN was founded to keep global peace and security and to protect human rights. Where is the peace? The security? The human rights?" Sommer continued.
"The issues around UNRWA are nearly as old as the organization itself. There were always issues of corruption and misconduct,” explained Daniel Shek, Head of the Diplomacy Team at The Hostages Families Forum. “UNRWA is not only bad things, UNRWA does and did amazing humanitarian efforts. If you're not careful as an organization, one video like this will erase - and should erase - all the good that you've done.”