JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli crews began bulldozing the Jerusalem headquarters of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees on Tuesday, stepping up its crackdown on the organization that delivers humanitarian services to millions of people in the region.
Israel has long accused the UN Relief and Works Agency of colluding with Hamas – which it denies – and last year banned it from operating on its soil. But Tuesday’s demolition is Israel’s latest and most dramatic move against UNRWA.
Roland Friedrich, the group’s West Bank director, said UNRWA had received reports that demolition teams and police had arrived at their East Jerusalem headquarters early in the morning. Staff have not operated outside the facility for nearly a year due to threats and incitement, but the Israeli military confiscated equipment and forced out private security personnel hired to protect the facility.
“What we have seen today is the culmination of two years of provocation and measures against UNRWA in East Jerusalem,” Frederick said, calling it a violation of international law that guarantees the protection of such facilities.
UNRWA’s mandate 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 an additional 3 million refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. The group has built infrastructure in refugee camps over the years and also runs schools and provides health care. But its operations, including in East Jerusalem, were scaled back last year when Israel’s Knesset passed a law banning severing ties and defining what constitutes Israel.
The agency said the demolition would include its commercial center in Qalandiya and a health facility in Shuafat, where it provides education and health services.
An Israeli flag was seen flying over the facility in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where some Israeli politicians attended the event to celebrate the organization’s fortunes. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gavir called it a “historic day.”
The demolition marked the culmination of years of criticism of Israel and its leaders, who say UNRWA harbors pro-Palestinian leanings and maintains ties or staff with members of terrorist groups such as Hamas. In the more than two years since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, it has stepped up such attacks, accusing UNRWA of infiltration by Hamas and saying fighters used its facilities and seized aid. It has provided little evidence for the claims, which have been denied by the United Nations. The International Court of Justice said in October that Israel should allow the agency to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Since Israel passed a law last year banning the agency, its facilities — schools and health centers — and its headquarters have been repeatedly closed, raided or left unguarded. Israel has argued that the agency perpetuates the refugee status of Palestinians, while UNRWA supporters say Israel’s attacks on the agency are aimed at sidelining the issue – one of the most contentious between Israelis and Palestinians.
“This comes in the context of other steps taken by the Israeli authorities to erase Palestinian refugee identities,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement on X. “This should be a wake-up call. What happens today in UNRWA will happen tomorrow in any other international organization or diplomatic mission or any international organization around the terrico. world.”
Under President Donald Trump, the United States cut funding for the agency in 2018. President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2021 and later stopped funding in 2024.
Israel’s ban on UNRWA coincides with widespread efforts to deregister aid groups operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Israel has passed laws barring NGOs from hiring staff involved in activities that “legitimize Israel” or support boycotts, requiring them to register a list 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. Organizations say the rules are arbitrary and warn that the new ban will harm civilians in need of humanitarian aid.
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