OCUPIED JERUSALEM, November 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Tuesday, November 26, denounced the "humiliating" treatment of one of its employees by Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, four days after another relief worker was shot dead.

UNRWA, which helps Palestinian refugees, said Allegra Pacheco had been held at gunpoint for two hours outside her home and her husband strip-searched before being taken into custody, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"Ms Pacheco was held at gunpoint in the open air for two hours while her house was searched, her mobile phone was taken from her and her car was used as a prop for IDF weapons," an UNRWA statement charged.

"Ms Pacheco repeatedly protested her U.N. status to the troops. Those protests were ignored."

Pacheco's husband, Abed al-Ahmar, was forced to partially strip before he was taken into Israeli army custody for 11 days, the statement added.

UNRWA slammed the acts against Pacheco, saying the "degrading treatment of her and her spouse is disruptive of her ability to carry out her official functions.

"This is completely contrary to the undertakings made by the government of Israel to facilitate the work of the agency."

The organization said Pacheco's husband was being held without just cause and demanded his release.

Its protest came four days after a British UNRWA engineer supervising reconstruction of a refugee camp was shot dead by Israeli troops in the northern West Bank camp of Jenin on Friday, November 22.

The Israeli army has admitted responsibility for the death of Iain Hook, 53, saying two soldiers mistook him for an armed Palestinian during a raid on the camp.

In Geneva, UNRWA said Tuesday that Hook was shot in the back with a single bullet at a time when no military activity was taking place in the area.

Of 23 Palestinian UNRWA staff currently being held by Israel, 20 have not been charged, the statement said, adding that UNRWA had been given no explanations for their detention and refused access to its staff.

Meanwhile, the French aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors without borders) expressed "fear for the security of its teams" operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip following Hook's death.

"This incident has increased our concern for our medical teams who, until now, have been shot at by the Israeli army on several occasions in the past few months," Olivier Maizoue, MSF coordinator for the Palestinian territories told AFP.

During one incident in the Gaza Strip, he said: "Israeli soldiers fired at MSF teams several meters away to stop them from moving, even though they were clearly identifiable.