Israeli forces on Tuesday targeted at least two United Nations facilities, pushing forward with its crackdown against the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees tasked with delivering humanitarian services to millions of people across the region. Crews began bulldozing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency ‘s offices in Sheikh Jarrah and fired tear gas at a vocational school in Qalandia, marking Israel’s latest and most dramatic step against UNRWA.
Roland Friedrich, the agency’s West Bank director, said UNRWA had received word that demolition crews and police arrived at their east Jerusalem headquarters early on Tuesday. Staff have not operated out of the facility for almost a year because of safety reasons, but Israeli forces confiscated devices and forced out the private security guards hired to protect the facility.
“What we saw today is the culmination of two years of incitement and measures against UNRWA in east Jerusalem,” Friedrich said, calling it a violation of international law guaranteeing such facilities protection.
He said forces also began firing tear gas at the vocational school for young Palestinians on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon. More than 300 young refugees receive job training in technology and welding there.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the demolition enforced a new law banning UNRWA, noting that Israel owns the site and rejecting UNRWA’s claims that the move violated international law.Israel has long claimed the agency has an antiIsrael bias, often with little evidence. It says UNRWA employs and maintains ties with militant groups including Hamas.
