JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities entered the shuttered East Jerusalem compound of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, raised Israel’s flag and began seizing equipment in a raid they said was ordered over unpaid municipal taxes — a move the United Nations condemned as a violation of international law.
The Jerusalem municipality said tax collectors entered the U.N. Relief and Works Agency’s compound to recover 11 million shekels (€3 million) in property taxes after “repeated requests” and warnings. UNRWA, which Israel has barred from operating inside the country, rejected the claim and said the site remains U.N. premises protected by international conventions to which Israel is a signatory.
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“I urge Israel to immediately take all necessary steps to restore, preserve and uphold the inviolability of UNRWA premises and to refrain from taking any further action,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said, condemning the raid.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on social media that Israeli police, accompanied by municipal officials, forced their way into the agency’s East Jerusalem compound in the early morning. He said police motorcycles, trucks and forklifts were brought in, communications were cut and furniture, IT equipment and other property were seized. Lazzarini warned the action “could create a dangerous precedent anywhere else the U.N. is present across the world.”
UNRWA spokesperson Jonathan Fowler said the compound is U.N. premises despite Israel’s ban on the agency’s operations and that the agency owes no municipal taxes. He said the U.N. has repeatedly reminded Israeli authorities of their obligations under international agreements governing the treatment of U.N. property and personnel.
Israel’s prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
UNRWA has not used the building since the start of the year, after Israel ordered the agency to vacate all its premises and cease operations under a law passed in October 2024 that bans the agency from operating in the country and prohibits official contacts with it. On Friday, the U.N. General Assembly renewed UNRWA’s mandate — first established in 1949 — for another three years.
The raid escalates a long-running confrontation between Israel and UNRWA, which Israel accuses of bias and says employed staff who were members of Hamas and took part in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that killed about 1,200 people in Israel. UNRWA has fired several employees but says Israel has not provided evidence for all the allegations.
Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. The war has severely strained the aid system in the enclave, where UNRWA is a primary provider of schooling, healthcare, social services and emergency shelter for Palestinians.
East Jerusalem remains a flashpoint. Israel captured the area in the 1967 Middle East war and formally annexed it in 1980; it considers all of Jerusalem part of its capital. The U.N. and most countries view East Jerusalem as occupied territory. UNRWA operates in East Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank and across the region, serving millions of registered Palestinian refugees.
Fowler declined to speculate on the timing of the raid. But he said Israel has conducted a sustained disinformation campaign against UNRWA and is pushing to have its responsibilities transferred to other U.N. bodies — a move Palestinians say would undercut their refugee status and claims, including the right of return to homes lost in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
