Hostage Survivor's Daughter Confronts UN Over Gaza Education

Netta Heiman-Minah, daughter of hostage survivor Ditsa Heiman, addressed the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, questioning the organization's oversight of education in Gaza. Speaking at a discussion on human rights education, Heiman-Minah recounted how a UNRWA teacher held her mother captive for 48 days under dire conditions. "How could you entrust the education of the next generation in Gaza to someone involved in holding an elderly woman hostage?" she asked, speaking on behalf of UN Watch and Ingénieurs du Monde.

Heiman-Minah challenged the UN's promotion of human rights while funding an agency she claims employs individuals involved in terrorism, citing the case of Suhail al-Hindi, a former UNRWA workers' union chairman identified as a Hamas member. However, as an activist with the "Women Wage Peace" movement, she clarified that her call is not to halt aid to Gaza but to replace UNRWA with alternative bodies. "The vacuum must be filled," she emphasized, urging the UN to find substitutes for providing healthcare, education, and nutritional security to Gaza's children, stating that improved lives for Gazans would lead to a better future for all.

Her speech coincided with the release of a new UN Watch report casting doubt on UNRWA's claims of organizational reforms since the war's outbreak. An international review committee, led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, had proposed 50 recommendations for reform, and UNRWA stated it had completed 41. However, the new UN Watch report, cited by Ynet, asserts that only 13 recommendations have been implemented, with most changes being cosmetic and administrative, lacking operational impact.

UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer sharply criticized the agency's self-assessment process as it seeks renewed international funding. "UNRWA marked its own homework and gave itself high grades," Neuer stated, adding that while the agency reports widespread progress on paper, UNRWA employees continue to be exposed as terror supporters, and hateful educational content persists in Gaza's schools.