The Bulldozing The headquarters of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in occupied East Jerusalem has drawn condemnation from international organizations and Palestinian leaders, who have warned that the move signals a “barbaric new era” of wanton disregard for international law.
The Israeli military, along with the far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-RielOn Tuesday, Sheikh Jarrah raided the compound, demolished the structures and confiscated the equipment. Ben-Gavir described the destruction as a “historic day”.
Recommended stories
4 List of itemsEnd of list
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said the operation was a “wake-up call” for the world.
“This is an unprecedented attack on a United Nations agency and its premises,” Lazzarini wrote on X. “What happens today at UNRWA will happen tomorrow at any other international organization or diplomatic mission … anywhere in the world.”
Lazarini vehemently rejected Israel’s support for the occupation of the land.
“The Israeli government’s claims are false and illegal,” he wrote. “UNRWA has leased the land from the Jordanian government since 1952. It is now being expropriated in flagrant violation of international law.”
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the demolitions were banned by UNRWA under a 2024 law.
Lazzarini warned that a “lost moral compass” was opening a dangerous chapter in which UN staff were demonized and their facilities destroyed by repression.
UNRWA was established in 1949 by the UN General Assembly to provide basic assistance including food, health care and education to thousands of Palestinian refugees. More than 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes and land until the creation of Israel in 1948, known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or “catastrophe.”
UNRWA’s operations span the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Waiver of right of return
Palestinian leaders see the demolition not only as a property dispute but also as a calculated attempt to erode the refugees’ political rights.
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative Party, told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israel was driven by “complete nonsense” to believe that destroying the buildings would destroy the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
“It reminds them of their criminal past and the ethnic cleansing they did in 1948,” Barghouti said.
He outlined three strategic objectives behind the attack:
- Political: Eradicating the refugee problem
- Existential: Destroying the “system of Palestinian stability” by shutting down health and education services
- Regional: Facilitating the “total Judaization of Jerusalem and the West Bank”.
Approval sought
The incident has reignited the debate over Western complicity and duplicity in Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
Luisa Morgantini, a former vice-president of the European Parliament, told Al Jazeera Arabic that the silence of the international community was complicit.
“The Europeans are complicit and the Americans are complicit because they said nothing and didn’t act,” Morgantini said. “The only way to understand Israel is … for example, if Europe stops establishing trade relations with Israel.”
Barghouti demanded that equal treatment should be applied to Israel like other nations.
“Why are sanctions imposed on Russia, Venezuela, Cuba and Iran but not Israel?” Barghouti asked. “It is the duty of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to demand that the governments of the world impose sanctions. This is the only way to stop Israel.”
The demolition came amid a sweeping crackdown on humanitarian aid. Israel recently cancelled The operating licenses of 37 aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders, have been revoked for failing to comply with new rules requiring them to provide detailed information on their staff members, funding and operations. The ban will affect the provision of life-saving aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Despite a ceasefire since October, Israel continues to block aid access to the Palestinian enclave of 2.2 million people and has killed more than 460 Palestinians there.
Meanwhile, tensions remain high in East Jerusalem, where Israeli forces fired tear gas at an UNRWA vocational school shortly after raiding its headquarters on Tuesday.