Israel demolished structures inside the UN Palestinian refugee agency’s East Jerusalem compound on Tuesday after seizing the site last year, in an act condemned by the agency as a violation of international law.
The compound housed the central headquarters for all United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem, but Israel claims the organisation ceased operating at the site and evacuated all its staff more than a year ago.
Some former Unrwa staff, however, said the structures demolished had been used to store aid for the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was at the site to oversee the demolition.
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“This is a historic day, a holiday, and a very important day for Jerusalem’s governance,” he said. “For years, these terror supporters were here, and today they are banished with everything they built.”
Unrwa spokesman Jonathan Fowler reacted angrily. “This is an unprecedented attack against Unrwa and its premises. And it also constitutes a serious violation of international law and the privileges and immunities of the United Nations,” he said.
The head of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, noted that United Nations premises are protected under international treaties, making them immune from “search, requisition, expropriation and any other form of interference”.
Tuesday’s action follows the passing of a law by the Knesset parliament in October 2024, to end Unrwa’s activity in Israel – citing suspicions that some of its staff participated in the October 7th, 2023 Hamas-led massacres in southern Israel.
Ninety-two lawmakers supported the bill, while 10 opposed it. A number of freed hostages have also testified after returning to Israel that they were held in captivity in Unrwa schools and facilities.
In December 2025, the Knesset voted to disconnect Unrwa facilities from water and electricity.
Following the 2024 vote, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he had instructed authorities to provide alternative solutions for the services previously offered by Unrwa in Jerusalem, primarily healthcare, schooling and social services, including the establishment of an education campus in the Shuafat refugee camp to serve thousands of students.
Jerusalem deputy mayor Aryeh King, speaking at the site of the demolition on Tuesday, expressed the hope that the move was only the beginning.
“Today we defeated the enemy, he was thrown out of Jerusalem, and with God’s help we will throw him out of all parts of the land of Israel. There is no choice – it’s either them or us,” he said.
“With God’s help, we will destroy, we will eliminate and annihilate all Unrwa personnel.”
In a lawsuit against the UN body, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, president of Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Centre, which represents victims of the October 7th, 2023 Hamas attack, denied the destruction was collective punishment or politically motivated.
The UN admits that nine Unrwa staff may have been involved in the October 7th attacks but it says Israel has not provided any evidence for its claim that the agency has been more widely infiltrated by Hamas.
Mr Fowler previously said Israel had been conducting a “sustained disinformation campaign” against Unrwa.
The agency operates in East Jerusalem, which the UN and most countries consider territory occupied by Israel. Israel considers all Jerusalem to be part of the country.
Unrwa also operates in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere in the Middle East, providing schooling, healthcare, social services and shelter to millions of Palestinians.
The UN says more than 300 Unrwa staff were killed in Israeli strikes during the two-year Gaza war and the organisation also faces an acute funding crisis.
