Israeli Crews Target U.N. Facilities For Palestinian Refugees In East Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces targeted at least two United Nations facilities on Tuesday, continuing their pressure on the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, which is tasked with providing humanitarian services to millions of people in the region.

Teams started digging with bulldozers United Nations Relief and Works AgencyThe tear gas of Israel’s offices in Sheikh Jarrah and a vocational school in Qalandiya was Israel’s latest and most dramatic step against UNRWA.

UNRWA received word early Tuesday that demolition teams and police had arrived at its headquarters in east Jerusalem, said Roland Friedrich, the agency’s West Bank director. Staff have not left the facility for almost a year for security reasons, but Israeli forces seized the devices and forcibly dismissed private security guards hired to guard the facility.

“What we are seeing today is the culmination of two years of provocation and measures against UNRWA in East Jerusalem,” Friedrich said, calling it a violation of international law that guarantees the protection of such facilities.

He said forces also began firing tear gas at a vocational school for young Palestinians on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon. More than 300 young refugees receive vocational training in technology and welding here.

Some children returning home from school were hit by tear gas, and a 15-year-old boy was hit in the eye with a rubber bullet, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem governorship, which monitors Palestinian affairs in the region.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the demolition enforced a new law banning UNRWA, noted that the site belonged to Israel, and rejected UNRWA’s claims that the move violated international law.

Israel has long claimed, often with little evidence, that the agency has an anti-Israel bias. It says UNRWA has established and maintains ties with militant groups, including Hamas. The UN has vehemently denied such allegations, and UNRWA has said it is moving quickly to eliminate suspected militants among its staff.

UNRWA’s mission is to provide assistance and services to approximately 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as 3 million refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. The group has been maintaining infrastructure in refugee camps for years, as well as operating schools and providing health services. But its operations were restricted when Israel’s Knesset decided last year. adopted legislation severing ties and banning it from operating in what it defines as Israel, including East Jerusalem.

The agency warns that demolitions could jeopardize the activities of the vocational center in Qalandiya and Health resort in Shua’fatIt continues to provide education and health services.

It was seen that the Israeli flag was hoisted over the facility in the Sheikh Jarrah district, where some Israeli politicians came to the scene to celebrate the fate of the organization. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called it a “historic day”.

The demolition marked the culmination of years of criticism from Israel and its leaders, who alleged that UNRWA harbored pro-Palestinian leanings and had ties to or employees of militant groups such as Hamas.

since the beginning Israel-Hamas war More than two years ago, he stepped up such attacks, accusing UNRWA of infiltrating Hamas and saying militants were using its facilities and seizing aid. Little evidence has been provided for the allegations, which the UN denies. The International Court of Justice ruled in October that Israel should allow Organization that will provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Since Israel passed the law banning the agency last year, facilities (schools and health centres) and headquarters repeatedly closedraided or left unprotected. Israel claimed that the organization continued the actions of Palestinians refugee statusUNRWA supporters, however, say Israel’s attacks on the agency are aimed at sidelining what is one of the most contentious issues dividing Israelis and Palestinians.

“This follows other steps taken by the Israeli authorities to erase the Palestinian Refugee identity,” Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s commissioner general, said in a statement about X. “This should be a wake-up call. What happened to UNRWA today will happen tomorrow to any international organization or diplomatic mission in the Occupied Palestinian Territories or anywhere in the world.”

United States under President Donald Trump cut funding for the agency in 2018. President Joe Biden Restored in 2021 and then paused funding In 2024.

Israel’s ban on UNRWA dovetailed with broader efforts to deregister aid groups operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Israel has passed laws requiring non-governmental organizations not to hire staff involved in activities that “delegitimise Israel” or support boycotts, and requires them to register lists of names as a condition of being allowed to work.

Israel has told dozens of groups, including Doctors Without Borders and CARE, that their licenses will expire at the end of 2025. The organizations said the rules were arbitrary and warned that the new ban would harm civilian populations in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

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