Outrage is intensifying after Israeli hostages recently freed from Gaza revealed they were held in U.N. facilities during their captivity, with critics calling UNRWA a “front for Hamas” that must be “disbanded” immediately.

Last weekend, three Israeli women — Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher — were released in a high-stakes prisoner swap, which saw Israel free 90 Palestinian detainees, including convicted terrorists. 

The women, who endured nearly a year and a half of harrowing captivity under the terrorist group Hamas, described being detained in United Nations facilities, including tent camps and humanitarian zones administered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Israel’s Channel 13 News reports. Additionally, reports indicate they were held at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

The former hostages are now undergoing rehabilitation, following severe conditions that included long periods in underground confinement without sunlight. One woman recounted being subjected to a medical procedure without anesthesia, underscoring the inhumane treatment they faced.

In response to the revelations, critics took to social media to express outrage.

“We need to confirm @EliseStefanik as UN Ambassador ASAP and hold the UN accountable for this. It’s despicable that the @UN has still not condemned Hamas terrorists for holding three women hostage in UN shelters for civilians in Gaza,” wrote Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.

“If the UN prefers to work closely with terrorists instead of working with the United States and Israel to get our hostages home, they don’t deserve a single cent of our taxpayer dollars,” he added. “It’s been 474 days – BRING THEM ALL HOME.” “How we do know it was UNRWA? Because UNRWA told us. They boasted about it: ‘UNRWA runs all UN shelters,’” wrote Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “We already knew that UNRWA employed Hamas terrorists, shared its infrastructure with Hamas, and allowed Hamas to use its facilities as bases of operations,” wrote FDD Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg. “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,” he added.

Activist and writer Hen Mazzig, a senior fellow at The Tel Aviv Institute, underscored failures of international organizations such as the U.N., Red Cross, and Amnesty International, highlighting their silence on the hostage crisis and complicity in Hamas-linked activities.  “This happened under your watch, @antonioguterres, yet you’ve said nothing or taken responsibility—just as you and @DrTedros stayed silent when a hostage revealed she was held captive in a hospital,” wrote Moshe Emilio Lavi, whose brother-in-law is currently being held hostage in Gaza. “Hamas constantly weaponises the @UN, and you enable it. You have failed us.” “Don’t act surprised. Hamas held our hostages in United Nations facilities in Gaza. The United Nations, and the Hamas run and infested UNRWA must be disbanded, but they won’t,” wrote filmmaker Avi Abelow. “We are on our own. Not only do Western leaders not really care, they are complicit.”

“Not to worry, we Jews have survived 3,000+ years of exiles and persecutions,” he added. “We will overcome this generation of evil against us as well.” “The hostages were held in United Nations UNRWA facilities. Trump is defunding UNRWA. Trump is against terrorism. Hope this clears things up,”  wrote journalist Eve Barlow.  UNRWA, created to aid Palestinian refugees after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War — launched by Arab nations aiming to annihilate the newly established state of Israel — now supports nearly six million people by redefining refugee status to include descendants, a move critics say deviates from global norms and perpetuates conflict.

The matter comes as UNRWA facilities in Gaza, long accused of harboring Hamas operatives and enabling terror activities, faces heightened scrutiny as Israel moves to ban the agency over security concerns.

On Wednesday, President Trump’s U.N. nominee Elise Stefanik denounced “anti-Semitic rot” in the global organization, which she described as a “den of antisemitism,” as she pledged reforms to protect U.S. interests during her Senate confirmation hearing. On Tuesday, President Trump halted UNRWA funding as part of his sweeping first-day actions.

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