Israel begins evicting UN training centre for Palestinians
Israeli forces began evicting a vocational training centre run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in an east Jerusalem suburb on Tuesday, in its latest move targeting the beleaguered organisation.
It follows repeated warnings by UNRWA that Israeli authorities were threatening its Qalandia training centre, located between the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Kafr Aqab and the Qalandia refugee camp.
The centre was established in 1952 and offers vocational training to around 340 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank every year, according to UNRWA.
"In accordance with my directive and following the law we passed, today the evacuation of the UNRWA compound in Kafr Aqab in Jerusalem has begun," a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
"The State of Israel will not allow an organisation whose employees were involved in terrorism and in the October 7 massacre to operate within its territory and will act against it with all available means," it added.
Israel has repeatedly accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas militants, claiming that some of its employees took part in the group's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Legislation severing ties with the agency and banning it from operating on Israeli territory took effect in January 2025.
A series of investigations, including one led by France's former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some "neutrality-related issues" at UNRWA but stressed Israel had not provided conclusive evidence for its headline allegation.
- 'UNRWA in our hands' -
UNRWA said that Israeli forces "forcibly entered" the training centre at around 10 am (0700 GMT), with at least four armoured vehicles entering the premises, accompanied by more than 50 Israeli security personnel.
Around 20 UNRWA staff were on site at the time, it said.
"UNRWA unequivocally condemns this unauthorised and deeply concerning incursion," it added, saying the "entry of armed security forces into a United Nations facility, without the authorisation or consent of the United Nations, is unacceptable."
Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, on Tuesday celebrated "making history!"
"Large forces of the Israel police are operating together with the relevant bodies to implement the law and remove UNRWA from the site," he said on Telegram.
He later posted a photo of the Israeli flag hoisted above the entrance to the training centre with the caption: "UNRWA in our hands."
An AFP journalist at the scene on Tuesday said Israeli forces had closed the main road near the entrance to the Qalandia Training Centre, while forces inside the institute were moving from one building to another.
The journalist reported seeing a convoy of three civilian vehicles leaving the institute, escorted by Israeli forces.
- 'Renovation' -
Israel occupied and annexed east Jerusalem in 1967, in a move not recognised by much of the international community.
Israel's foreign ministry on Tuesday announced that the Jerusalem municipality had begun "renovation work" on a "new educational and community complex in Jerusalem's Kafr Aqab neighbourhood, for the benefit of thousands of its Arab residents".
"Despite holding no property rights to the plot, UNRWA has walled off the land for decades," it said in a statement, adding that "while UNRWA is playing politics, the Jerusalem Municipality is improving daily life for all its residents, Jews and Arabs alike".
The raid on the Qalandia training centre comes a day after representatives from more than 25 diplomatic missions and international organisations visited the site.
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Tuesday's actions by Israel, saying they reflected "an official determination to challenge the status and immunities of the United Nations and to impose facts on the ground by force".
In January, Israel began demolitions at UNRWA's headquarters in east Jerusalem, in what the organisation called an "unprecedented attack".
vid-if-ha-acc/jfx
