Israel begins demolition of a United Nations HQ in Jerusalem
Israel is demolishing the former headquarters of the UN’s Palestinian aid agency in East Jerusalem, with the UN saying it’s a “violation of international law”.
Israeli police have forced their way into the East Jerusalem headquarters of UNRWA, the UN agency providing aid to Palestinian refugees, and begun demolition work.
Israeli and Palestinian media reported on Tuesday that demolition of the buildings was being done using heavy equipment.
Israel Land Authority officials were involved in the operation, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) confirmed.
Israel has accused UNRWA of harbouring members of the Islamist group Hamas among its staff, and the Israeli parliament has passed a law banning UNRWA operations on Israeli territory.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini condemned the move in a post on X, terming it a “new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law, including of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel”.
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He described the development as an “unprecedented attack” against the UN. This could happen to any other organisation and should be seen as a “wake-up call”, Lazzarini said.
“This comes in the wake of other steps taken by Israeli authorities to erase the Palestine Refugee identity.”
Israeli police had entered the site with trucks and forklifts in December after Israeli authorities ordered UN staff to leave a year ago.
The Israel Land Authority said it had taken possession of the 4.6-hectare site on the basis of the new law. It would be managed in the public interest, it said. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said the site was now the property of the state.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly called for the agency to be abolished.
He said the organisation perpetuates the problem of Palestinian refugees and “the idea of a right of return with the aim of destroying the State of Israel”.
German Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan called the Israeli move “a further escalation and extremely worrying”.
She said the Israeli government was continuing its efforts to render UNRWA incapable of functioning.
“The organisation is indispensable for the care of Palestinian refugees – in Gaza as well as across the region,” she said.
The UK government’s Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said he was “appalled” by the reports.
“Israel must abide by its obligations to protect and respect UN premises,” he said on X.
Israel seized the Arab-majority East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, subsequently annexing it.
The status of the city remains a central point of conflict, with Palestinians claiming it as the capital of a future Palestinian state and Israel insisting it is its “eternal and indivisible capital”.
The United Nations founded the agency in 1949 to help around 700,000 Palestinian refugees. Those entitled to its services include Palestinians who fled or were expelled during the wars of 1948 and 1967, as well as their descendants.
According to the organisation, this now amounts to around 5.9 million people, and the number continues to rise. The agency also operates in Jordan and Lebanon, among other places.
