Israeli crews demolish UNRWA facilities in east Jerusalem, AP says

Israeli demolitions hit UNRWA sites in east Jerusalem

Israeli forces targeted U.N. facilities in the Jerusalem area on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, as crews bulldozed United Nations Relief and Works Agency offices in Sheikh Jarrah and fired tear gas at a vocational school in Qalandia. The AP said the actions were part of what it described as Israel’s crackdown against UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

In east Jerusalem, UNRWA staff and associated operations were already constrained by prior safety concerns, according to the agency’s West Bank director. Roland Friedrich said UNRWA received word that demolition crews and police arrived at the agency’s east Jerusalem headquarters early on Tuesday, and that the facility had not been used by staff for almost a year out of safety concerns.

Friedrich said Israeli forces confiscated devices and forced out private security guards that were protecting the facility. He described the demolition as a culmination of a longer campaign, saying, “What we saw today is the culmination of two years of incitement and measures against UNRWA in east Jerusalem.”

Separately, Friedrich said forces began firing tear gas outside the vocational school on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon before ultimately leaving. Palestinian officials said the tear gas affected children leaving the school, and that a 15-year-old was hit in the eye with a rubber bullet, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem governorate.

The vocational center in Qalandia, which provides job training for young refugees, was operating at least through that day, the AP said. The report said more than 300 young refugees receive training there in technology and welding.

U.N. chief condemns actions against UNRWA

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel’s destruction of UNRWA’s compound and called for it to be returned to U.N. control, the AP reported. Farhan Haq, the deputy U.N. spokesperson, said the Secretary-General views the continued steps against UNRWA as “wholly unacceptable,” adding that they are inconsistent with Israel’s obligations under international law.

UNRWA also warned that the demolitions could imperil operations at other locations tied to the agency’s services in east Jerusalem, including the vocational center in Qalandia and a health facility in Shu’afat.

The AP reported that some children on their way home from the school were overcome by tear gas, and that the injury described by Palestinian authorities involved a rubber bullet.

Israel cites new law; denies UNRWA claims

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the demolition enforced a new law banning UNRWA and that Israel owns the site, according to the AP. The ministry rejected UNRWA’s claims that the move violated international law.

Israel has long accused the agency of being infiltrated by Hamas, and has said that some employees were involved in the October 2023 attack that preceded Israel’s war in Gaza, the report said. The AP said UNRWA leaders have said they took swift action against employees accused of involvement, and have denied allegations that UNRWA tolerates or collaborates with Hamas.

UNRWA’s mandate, as described by the AP, is to provide aid and services to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, and to about 3 million more refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. The agency has run schools and provided health care in refugee camps, the AP said.

Operations were curtailed last year after Israel passed legislation severing ties and banning UNRWA from functioning in what Israel defines as Israel, including east Jerusalem, the AP reported.

The AP also said Israel’s actions against UNRWA have intensified since the start of the war in Gaza more than two years ago, as Israeli officials have alleged that militants used U.N. facilities and seized aid—claims UNRWA has denied, according to the report. The AP said the U.N.’s International Court of Justice, in an October ruling, told Israel to allow UNRWA to provide humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

UNRWA warns of wider implications

Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s commissioner-general, said in a statement posted on X that the steps taken against UNRWA would also befall other organizations. He said, “What happens today to UNRWA will happen tomorrow to any other international organisation or diplomatic mission, whether in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or anywhere around the world.”

The AP said the demolition also followed years of criticism and repeated closures, raids or lack of protection for UNRWA facilities since Israel passed its law banning the agency last year, including schools and health centers.

Broader pressure on aid groups; settler violence figures

The AP said Israel’s UNRWA ban dovetailed with broader efforts to pressure or deregister aid groups operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. It reported that Israel has passed laws requiring nongovernmental organizations not to hire staff involved in activities that “delegitimize Israel” or support boycotts, and that the rules require registration of lists of names.

Israel told dozens of groups, including Doctors Without Borders and CARE, that their licenses would expire at the end of 2025, the organizations said, according to the AP.

The AP also included figures tied to reported settler violence in the West Bank. It said the Israeli military reported that attacks carried out by Jewish settlers against Palestinians and Israeli security forces increased by 27% last year compared with 2024. The report said there were 867 reports of “nationalistic crimes,” and that the number of severe incidents rose by more than 50%, based on internal statistics from the Israeli military and Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security service.