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A new blow for UNRWA as headquarters in East Jerusalem ‘set on fire’

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It comes after Israeli authorities “stormed and demolished” buildings in the compound last week, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.

“Allowing this unprecedented destruction is the latest attack on the UN in the ongoing attempt to dismantle the status of Palestine Refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and erase their history,” Mr. Lazzarini said.

In a short statement, the senior UN official added that there were “no limits to the defiance of the United Nations” and international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Last Tuesday’s move by Israeli authorities to send bulldozers into the Sheikh Jarrah compound where they tore down UNRWA structures prompted swift condemnation from senior UN officials including Secretary-General António Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

Ahead of that dramatic development, on 14 January, Israeli forces entered an UNRWA health centre in East Jerusalem and ordered it to close. The agency reported that its workers were “terrified” and that the deteriorating situation was a direct result of legislation passed by the Israeli parliament in December, stepping up existing anti-UNRWA laws adopted in 2024.

UNRWA premises have also been targeted by arsonists amid a “large-scale disinformation campaign” against it by Israel, the agency’s Commissioner-General has previously maintained.

This was despite a ruling last October by the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice, which restated that Israel was obliged “to facilitate UNRWA’s operations, not hinder or prevent them. The court also stressed that Israel has no jurisdiction over East Jerusalem,” Mr. Lazzarini noted.

UNRWA headquarters bulldozed in East Jerusalem

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Responding to the dramatic development, head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees Philippe Lazzarini described it as an “unprecedented attack” against the UN, whose premises are protected under international law.

The move represents “a new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law, including of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel”, the UNRWA Commissioner-General said on X.

The same thing could happen to any other organization or diplomatic mission “anywhere around the world”, Mr. Lazzarini warned. “This must be a wake-up call,” he stressed.   

Human rights chief’s ‘outrage’

Echoing those concerns, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed his “outrage” at the incident, which marks a sharp escalation of tensions between the Israeli authorities and UNRWA.

“It compounds what we’ve been seeing for a while; attacking aid groups and UN actors who are trying to help,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the High Commissioner.

On 14 January, Israeli forces entered an UNRWA health centre in East Jerusalem and ordered it to close. At the time of the incident, the agency said its workers were “terrified”. In the coming weeks, water and power supplies to UNRWA facilities are scheduled to be cut, including to buildings used for health care and education.

“This is a direct result of legislation passed by the Israeli parliament in December, which stepped up existing anti-UNRWA laws adopted in 2024,” Mr. Lazzarini said.

Previously, UNRWA premises have been targeted by arsonists amid a “large-scale disinformation campaign” against it by Israel, the agency’s Commissioner-General maintained.

This was despite a ruling last October by the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice, which restated that Israel was obliged “to facilitate UNRWA’s operations, not hinder or prevent them. The court also stressed that Israel has no jurisdiction over East Jerusalem,” Mr. Lazzarini noted.

“What happens today to UNRWA will happen tomorrow to any other international organisation or diplomatic mission, whether in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or anywhere around the world,” he continued. “International law has come under increasing attack for too long and is risking irrelevancy in the absence of response by Member States.”

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