UNRWA centre in East Jerusalem taken over by Israel

Israeli forces took control of a vocational training centre run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in an east Jerusalem suburb on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The Qalandia Training Centre is between Kafr Aqab and the Qalandia refugee camp. UNRWA says it was established in 1952 and provides vocational training each year to about 340 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the evacuation of the UNRWA compound in Kafr Aqab had begun under his directive and under Israeli legislation that severed ties with the agency and banned it from operating on Israeli territory from January 2025. The statement accused UNRWA employees of involvement in terrorism and in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

UNRWA said Israeli forces forcibly entered the training centre at around 10 am, with at least four armoured vehicles and more than 50 Israeli security personnel entering the site. It said about 20 UNRWA staff were there at the time and condemned what it called an unauthorised entry into a United Nations facility.

A spokesman for Guterres said the UN chief was greatly alarmed by the incursion. He said the centre and other UNRWA premises are United Nations premises and are “inviolable and immune from any form of interference.”

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said his office sent a letter to Guterres saying UNRWA had no property rights to the compound. Danon said Israel had told UNRWA and the United Nations in advance that the agency had to cease operations in Jerusalem and vacate the site, and said the grounds would be turned into an educational and community centre.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said police and other bodies were working to remove UNRWA from the site. He later posted a photo of an Israeli flag above the training centre entrance with the caption: “UNRWA in our hands.”

An AFP journalist at the scene said Israeli forces closed the main road near the centre's entrance.

Israel's foreign ministry said the Jerusalem municipality had begun work on a new educational and community complex in Kafr Aqab. It said UNRWA had no property rights to the plot.

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Israel's actions, saying they sought to challenge the status and immunities of the United Nations and impose facts on the ground by force.

Israel has repeatedly accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas militants and has said some agency employees took part in the October 7 attack that sparked the Gaza war. Investigations, including one led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some neutrality-related issues at UNRWA but said Israel had not provided conclusive evidence for its central allegation.

Israel occupied and annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, in a move not recognised by much of the international community. In January, Israel began demolitions at UNRWA's headquarters in East Jerusalem, which the organisation called an unprecedented attack.