Israeli forces demolish UNRWA training center in East Jerusalem
UN agency condemns forced entry, saying Israeli action violates international law and threatens vital services for Palestinian refugees
JERUSALEM, Palestine (MNTV) — Israeli forces began demolishing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Kalandia Training Centre in occupied East Jerusalem, in what the agency condemned as an unauthorized assault on a UN facility protected under international law.
UNRWA said at least four armored Israeli vehicles entered the premises accompanied by more than 50 security personnel as demolition work began at the agency’s oldest vocational training center.
The agency said the Kalandia center has operated for more than seven decades, providing free vocational education to thousands of Palestinian refugees and helping graduates enter local and regional labor markets.
Hundreds of Palestinian refugee students from camps across the occupied West Bank have used the center each year, many coming from communities facing severe economic hardship.
UNRWA condemned the Israeli operation as an unauthorized entry into UN premises and called for immediate international intervention to protect its facilities and preserve humanitarian services for Palestinian refugees.
The agency said the center enjoys privileges and immunities under international law and warned that the destruction threatens services that vulnerable refugee communities depend upon.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared to celebrate the takeover, posting a photograph of the campus on social media with the message, “UNRWA in our hands.”
The demolition follows the destruction of UNRWA’s East Jerusalem headquarters by Israeli forces in January after Israeli legislation was enacted to prohibit the agency’s operations in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem.
Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA affairs in the West Bank, described the latest action as a blatant violation of international law.
The United Nations considers East Jerusalem part of the occupied Palestinian territory and regards it as falling within the broader West Bank. Israel, however, claims sovereignty over the city and has extended its domestic jurisdiction there, a position rejected by the international community.
The confrontation is rooted in legislation adopted by Israel’s Knesset in October 2024 that sought to prohibit UNRWA from operating in areas under Israeli control, including occupied East Jerusalem.
Friedrich said the legislation itself violates international law, arguing that one of the laws specifically targets UNRWA’s activities in territory Israel claims as sovereign but which the United Nations regards as occupied Palestinian land.
The escalating restrictions against UNRWA have raised concerns over the ability of the agency to provide education, health, relief and other essential services to Palestinian refugees.
The Kalandia facility’s destruction further threatens an institution that has served Palestinian refugee communities for generations, while the absence of a comparable replacement risks leaving vulnerable students without access to vocational training.
UNRWA urged the international community to act immediately to safeguard the inviolability of UN premises and prevent further disruption of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugee communities.
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