Israeli police and municipal officials forcibly entered the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Monday, seizing assets and replacing the United Nations flag with the Israeli national flag.
The raid, which UNRWA and the UN Secretary-General strongly condemned as a violation of international law, marks a significant escalation in tensions between Israel and the UN agency.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini confirmed the details, stating that police, accompanied by trucks and forklifts, “forcibly entered the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem” and cut all communications. He reported that “Furniture, IT equipment and other property was seized. The UN flag was pulled down and replaced with an Israeli flag.”
The Israeli police confirmed the presence of officers, stating the operation was “carried out by the Jerusalem municipality as part of a debt-collection procedure.” Deputy Mayor Arieh King indicated that the raid was executed over millions of shekels in alleged unpaid property taxes and to collect intelligence on the facility’s current operators.
However, Lazzarini countered the premise of the raid, asserting that such actions represent “a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations Member State to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises.” He stressed that the compound, which UNRWA personnel vacated earlier this year following anti-UNRWA legislation passed by the Knesset, “retains its status as a UN premises, immune from any form of interference.”
The raid occurred just days after the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to renew UNRWA’s mandate for another three years. UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement strongly condemning the unauthorized entry, reiterating the compound’s protected status. “This compound remains United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any other form of interference,” Guterres stated.
