Watch: An UNRWA teacher held her 84-year-old mother hostage — now she confronts the UN

The daughter of former hostage Ditza Heiman confronted the UN Human Rights Council, demanding answers over how an UNRWA teacher could hold her 84-year-old mother captive in his Gaza home. Heiman, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, spent 48 of her 53 days in captivity confined in the teacher’s attic, according to her testimony.

“How could you place the education of Gaza’s next generation with someone involved in holding an elderly woman hostage?” Neta Heiman Mina asked in Geneva, challenging the UN’s continued support for UNRWA while questioning its oversight of employees.

Her intervention came as UN Watch accused UNRWA of overstating its post-October 7 reforms, arguing that only 13 of 50 recommendations were fully implemented. Heiman Mina stressed that Gaza’s children still need essential services — but argued that other organizations should provide them without the failures attributed to UNRWA.

“For 48 days, an UNRWA teacher kept her trapped in his attic — in terrible conditions, with very little food. I ask the United Nations: How could you place the education of Gaza’s next generation with someone involved in holding an elderly woman hostage?”

Neta Heiman, the… pic.twitter.com/HJ7VSTzk76

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) September 15, 2026