Israeli police raid UN refugee agency compound
Israeli police raided the headquarters of the United Nations Palestine Refugee Organization in East Jerusalem and removed the Israeli flag, which the organization described as a defiance of international law.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), accused of bias by Israel, has not used the building since the beginning of this year after Israel ordered it to vacate all its buildings and cease its activities.
Israel Police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said that the police accompanied Jerusalem municipality employees who were carrying out the debt collection procedure in the campus.
“This latest action represents a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a member state of the United Nations to protect and respect the inviolability of UN facilities,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote to X. he said.
“Allowing this to happen represents a new challenge to international law, and it creates a dangerous precedent wherever the UN has a presence around the world.”
UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said by phone from Amman that the East Jerusalem campus remains a UN building despite Israel’s ban on its activities and that the agency “does not owe anything to the municipality.”
A city spokesperson had no comment on the matter.
The Israeli prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the raid.
George Khoury, the owner of a security company contracted by UNRWA to ensure the security of the centre, said that municipal workers and police arrived early on Monday, forced their way into the compound and detained many security guards.
A few hours later, the Israeli flag was hoisted over one of the buildings.
Police motorcycles, trucks and forklifts were brought in and communications were cut off, Lazzarini said.
IT equipment, furniture and other property were seized, he said.
The UN General Assembly on Friday renewed UNRWA’s mandate, first established in 1949, for another three years.
Fowler declined to speculate on the timing of the raid.
He said Israel was waging a “sustained disinformation campaign” against UNRWA, whose responsibilities it wanted to be taken over by other UN bodies, such as the main refugee agency.
Palestinians see UNRWA’s presence as intertwined with the protection of their rights as refugees, particularly their hope of returning to the homes from which they or their ancestors fled or were deported in the 1948 war that established Israel.
Israel claimed that some UNRWA personnel were members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed nearly 1,200 Israelis and led to Israel’s war against Hamas. Gaza officials say more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in this war.
UNRWA has dismissed many of its staff but said Israel had not provided evidence of all allegations against its staff.
The Israeli parliament passed a law in October 2024 banning the agency from operating in the country and banning officials from contacting the agency.
UNRWA operates in East Jerusalem, which the UN considers to be occupied territory by Israel.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem as part of its country.
Israel officially annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 after capturing it in the 1967 Middle East war.
The UN and most countries consider East Jerusalem to be occupied by Israel.
UNRWA also operates in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere in the Middle East, providing education, healthcare, social services and housing to millions of Palestinians.
