Israeli police forcibly entered the compound of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem early on Monday.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa) said that “sizeable numbers” of Israeli forces, including police on motorcycles, trucks and forklifts, entered the compound in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah and cut communications to the compound.
“The unauthorised and forceful entry by Israeli security forces is an unacceptable violation of Unrwa’s privileges and immunities as a UN agency,” a statement read.
Photographs taken by an Associated Press photographer show police erecting an Israeli flag on top of the compound, and police cars on the street. Photographs provided by Unrwa staff show a group of Israeli police officers inside the compound.
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Police said in a statement they entered for a “debt-collection procedure” initiated by Jerusalem’s municipal government, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The raid was the latest in Israel’s campaign against the agency, which provides aid and services to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as three million more refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
The agency was established to help the estimated 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of the Israeli state. Unrwa supporters say Israel hopes to erase the Palestinian refugee issue by dismantling the agency. Israel says the refugees should be permanently resettled outside its borders.
For more than a year since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7th, 2023, Unrwa was the main lifeline for Gaza’s population that largely relied on aid following the humanitarian crisis unleashed by heavy Israeli bombardment and blockades on the entry of goods.
Restrictions on goods have since eased after a US-brokered ceasefire was reached on October 10th.
Throughout the war, Israel has accused the agency of being infiltrated by Hamas, allegations the UN has denied. After months of mounting attacks from prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies, Israel formally banned it from operating on its territory in January.
The US, formerly the largest donor to Unrwa, halted funding to the agency in early 2024.
Unrwa has since struggled to continue its work in Gaza, with other UN agencies, including the World Food Programme and Unicef, stepping in to help compensate for a gap Unrwa says cannot be filled.
The agency shut down its Jerusalem compound in May after far-right protesters, including at least one member of the Israeli parliament, overran its gate in the presence of the police. Israel’s far-right has pushed to turn the compound into a settlement. – AP
