Israel has demolished multiple structures inside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s east Jerusalem compound after seizing the site last year, an action UNRWA condemned as a violation of international law and UN privileges and immunities.
Surrounded by Israeli forces, bulldozers razed several large buildings and smaller facilities within the compound, where dozens of agency staff once worked. UNRWA has not used the site since early last year after Israeli authorities ordered the agency to vacate all premises and halt operations in the city.
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“This is an unprecedented attack against UNRWA and its premises and it also constitutes a serious violation of international law and the privileges and immunities of the United Nations,” Mr. Fowler, a UNRWA official, said.
Some former staff said the demolished structures had been used to store aid destined for the West Bank and Gaza. “The destruction today by the Israeli occupation is another message to the world that Israel is the only country that can demolish international law and get away with it,” said Hakam Shahwan, former chief of staff at UNRWA’s east Jerusalem headquarters.
Israel’s parliament passed a law in October 2024 banning UNRWA from operating in the country and prohibiting officials from contact with the agency. On social media, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted video from outside the compound as a bulldozer began tearing into the site, calling it “a historic day” and “a holiday.”
In a statement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the “compound does not enjoy any immunity and the seizure of this compound by Israeli authorities was carried out in accordance with both Israeli and international law.”
The move follows a municipal raid last year in which Jerusalem authorities said UNRWA had failed to pay property taxes despite multiple warnings. UNRWA countered that the east Jerusalem compound remains UN premises despite the Israeli ban, and said the agency has no debts to the municipality.
The demolition comes against the backdrop of Israel’s allegations that some UNRWA employees were members of Hamas and took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed about 1,200 people in Israel and precipitated the war in Gaza, where authorities say more than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed. UNRWA has fired several staff members but says Israel has not provided evidence for all of its allegations.
Mr. Fowler previously told Reuters that Israel has conducted a “sustained disinformation campaign” against the agency. Israel accuses UNRWA of bias, a charge the agency rejects.
UNRWA operates in east Jerusalem—territory the United Nations and most countries consider occupied—while Israel considers all of Jerusalem part of the country. The agency also runs schools, clinics, social services and shelters for millions of Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and across the Middle East.
The latest demolition underscores a deepening dispute over UNRWA’s status and immunity in Jerusalem, pitting Israel’s domestic law and enforcement actions against the UN’s assertion of protections for its premises and personnel.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
