This Tuesday, Israeli excavators began demolishing the complex of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees () located in occupied East Jerusalem, after Israel vetoed its activity in its territory a year ago and recently removed immunity from its properties. The EFE agency reports this.
“The State of Israel is the owner of the (UNRWA) complex in Jerusalem where the Israel Lands Authority currently operates. Even before the approval of the legislation (vetoing this body) in January 2025, UNRWA had already ceased its operations in this place,” said the Israeli Foreign Ministry in a statement justifying the assault on the complex, in the area that Jews call Ammunition Hill, right on the green line, where maps fix the border between east and west.
The Government takes advantage of the fact that the international focus is elsewhere (from Iran to Greenland, passing through Venezuela) to intensify its siege of this UN organization, which has been working for Palestinian refugees since its establishment in 1950.
The organization repeatedly reminds that applying Israeli legislation in East Jerusalem is illegal, as it is an occupied territory that .
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Already at the end of 2024, the ultranationalist and religious cabinet decided to outlaw all the organization’s activities within the country and last December, the Knesset (Parliament) voted to disconnect UNRWA’s water and electricity facilities. The police went to the agency’s headquarters, disconnecting everything and taking files and computers, and leaving, in the process, the Israeli flag where the blue one of the UN was. In May of last year, without consequences for the attackers,
Two weeks ago, Israeli forces evacuated the UNRWA facility in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.
“The recent ruling of the International Court of Justice reiterated that the State of Israel is obliged by international law to facilitate the operations of UNRWA, not to hinder or impede them,” recalled Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the organization. Just four days ago, Roland Friedrich, director of the organization in the area, denounced that Israeli aggression threatens to end decades of humanitarian work. It is impossible to provide minimal humanitarian assistance to the refugee population if they are deprived of these basic resources, he notes.
Israel has repeatedly accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas militants, claiming that some of its employees participated in the group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza. , as has been proven.
However, his statement has led to large donors to the United Nations, starting with the largest, the United States, leaving UNRWA in a crisis situation unknown in its history, precisely when it is needed most, both due to the consequences of Israel’s two years of attacks in Gaza and the sustained operation in the West Bank, the worst since the Second Intifada.
