Israeli bulldozers demolish parts of the headquarter of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Tuesday. Photo by Atef Safadi/EPA
Jan. 20 (UPI) — The Israeli government began demolishing the East Jerusalem building that houses the United Nations’ agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees Tuesday, a move the international organization called “an unprecedented attack.”
The BBC reported that demolition teams used heavy machinery to rip through the roof and tear down walls of the headquarters of the UNRWA, formally known as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini issued a statement calling the demolition “a new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law.”
“This constitutes an unprecedented attack against a United Nations agency and its premises.”
Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the site during the demolition and said it was “a very important day for the governance of Jerusalem,” Sky News reported. He called workers for the UNRWA “supporters of terror” and said the organization was “infested” with Hamas members.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed laws in October 2024 banning the agency from operating in the country. The government accused the UNRWA of being infiltrated by members of Hamas and participating in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed hundreds of people. The ban went into effect in January 2025.
The UNRWA, which has 30,000 workers in the region, denied the accusation, saying it fired nine employees after uncovering evidence they were involved in the attack that ignited the war.
The International Court of Justice in October ruled that Israel must allow the UNRWA to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. The opinion from the United Nations’ highest court is non-binding but has a moral and diplomatic weight.
The UNRWA was founded in 1949 to provide relief to Palestinian refugees and began working out of its East Jerusalem headquarters shortly after. It is situated within occupied territory, having been seized by Israel in 1967.
Israeli officials took control of the building late last year, removing equipment and raising an Israeli flag. The government said it can now demolish the building because it belongs to Israel and is vacant.
An unnamed U.N. official told Sky News that the justification was “absolute nonsense.”
“They can say what they like, but it doesn’t make it real.”
