UN labels Israeli raid on refugee agency a ‘dangerous precedent’

JERUSALEM

Israeli police raided the headquarters of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency in East Jerusalem on Monday and raised Israel’s flag, in what the agency called a challenge to international law.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has been accused of bias by Israel, has not used the building since the start of this year after Israel ordered it to vacate all its premises and cease its operations.

Israel Police spokesperson Dean Elsdunne said police were accompanying Jerusalem municipality employees who were carrying out a debt collection procedure at the compound.

“This latest action represents a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations Member State to protect & respect the inviolability of UN premises,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.

“To allow this represents a new challenge to international law, one that creates a dangerous precedent anywhere else the UN is present across the world.”

UNRWA spokesperson Jonathan Fowler said by phone from Amman that the East Jerusalem compound remained a UN premises despite the Israeli ban on its operations and that the agency had “no debts to the municipality. Period.”

A municipality spokesperson had no immediate comment. The Israeli prime minister’s office and foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the raid.

George Khoury, who owns a security company contracted by UNRWA to secure the headquarters, said municipality workers and police arrived early on Monday, forced their way into the compound and detained several security guards.

Several hours later, an Israeli flag was raised over one of the buildings.

Lazzarini said police motorcycles and trucks and forklifts were brought in and communications were cut. IT equipment, furniture and other property had been seized, he said.

The UN General Assembly renewed UNRWA’s mandate, first established in 1949, for another three years on Friday. Fowler declined to speculate on the timing of the raid.

He said Israel had been conducting a “sustained disinformation campaign” against UNRWA, whose responsibilities it wants taken over by other UN bodies such as the main refugee agency.

Palestinians view UNRWA’s existence as enmeshed with the preservation of their rights as refugees, especially their hope of returning to homes from which they or their ancestors fled or were expelled in the war over Israel’s creation in 1948.

Israel has alleged that some UNRWA staff were members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and took part in the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that killed about 1,200 Israelis and led to Israel’s war against Hamas, in which Gaza authorities say more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed.

UNRWA has fired several staff members but said Israel had not provided evidence for all the allegations against its staff.

Israel’s parliament passed a law in October 2024 banning the agency from operating in the country and prohibiting officials from having contact with the agency.

UNRWA operates in East Jerusalem, which the UN considers territory occupied by Israel. Israel considers all Jerusalem to be part of the country.

Israel formally annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, after capturing it in the 1967 Middle East war. The UN and most countries consider East Jerusalem to be occupied by Israel.

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.