Israeli forces storm UNRWA headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem

Israeli forces on Monday stormed the sealed headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

The compound had served as an UNRWA office since 1951, but the agency vacated it earlier this year following an Israeli government decision. Tel Aviv banned UNRWA’s operations in Jerusalem under a law passed by the Knesset (parliament).

The Jerusalem Governorate, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, said “police forces raided the headquarters, detained security guards, and confiscated their phones.” 

The raid occurred “alongside a complete closure of the surrounding area and extensive searches carried out by the occupation forces across all facilities of the building,” the statement said.

“This raid represents a direct challenge to the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming vote days ago to renew UNRWA’s mandate,” the governorate said.

It called for urgent international action to hold Israel accountable “for violating international law,” and to prosecute Israeli leaders “for crimes and abuses committed against the Palestinian people and their national and international institutions.”

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For its part, UNRWA stressed that the unauthorized and forceful entry of Israeli forces constitutes an unacceptable violation of its status as a UN agency. It noted that Israel is a party to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, which stipulates the inviolability of UN premises (immunity from search and seizure) and that its property and assets are immune from legal proceedings.

The Israeli police said in a written statement sent to Anadolu that “this was a municipal matter related to unpaid debts to the municipality, and not a police matter, and the police were present to secure the municipal employees. 

When asked about the Israeli flag on the premises, Israeli police referred the matter again to the municipality. 

On Friday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to renew the UNRWA mandate for three years.

The resolution was backed by 151 votes against 10, and 14 abstentions.

UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly more than 70 years ago to assist Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their land.

The UN agency has been facing severe financial difficulties since Israel launched a defamation campaign against UNRWA, claiming that staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks.

Despite UNRWA’s requests that the Israeli government provide information and evidence to back up the allegations, the agency has received no response. Following Israel’s accusations, several key donor nations, including the US, suspended or paused funding.

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