Jerusalem (UNA/WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces stormed the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied Jerusalem on Monday morning.
Local sources reported that the occupation forces raided the UNRWA headquarters, carried out searches inside the headquarters, and seized the phones of the security guards.
The Jerusalem Governorate said that reinforced occupation forces stormed the headquarters in the early morning hours, detained the security staff and seized their phones, which led to a cutoff of communication with them and made it impossible to know what was happening inside the headquarters, at the same time as the area was completely closed off and the occupation forces carried out extensive searches that affected all the facilities of the building.
In a statement issued by the governorate, it considered the storming of the UNRWA headquarters by the occupation forces a flagrant violation of international law and a serious transgression against the immunity and dignity of United Nations institutions, and a clear violation of the Charter of the International Organization, the conditions of its membership and its resolutions, especially Security Council Resolution No. 2730 (May 24, 2024), which obliges states to respect and protect United Nations institutions and humanitarian workers, which applies directly to UNRWA, its institutions and its employees.
She explained that this raid comes in the context of a series of attacks carried out by settlers and members of the Israeli Knesset, following the implementation of the occupation government’s decision to ban UNRWA’s work in East Jerusalem on January 30, a decision that led to the departure of international staff from the city due to the expiration of their Israeli permits, while local staff were not present at the agency’s headquarters during the raid.
The Jerusalem Governorate affirmed that East Jerusalem is occupied territory under international law, and its annexation by the occupation is not recognized, stressing that targeting a UN agency concerned with serving refugees constitutes a serious violation of the international system and the powers of the United Nations.
She added that this incursion represents a direct challenge to the UN General Assembly’s overwhelming vote, days earlier, to renew UNRWA’s mandate.
The governorate reiterated its support for the International Court of Justice’s ruling that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and that it is an integral part of UNRWA’s areas of operation, calling on the international community to join the Palestinian position rejecting the recent Israeli decisions as tools to consolidate the occupation and oppression against the Palestinian people.
The Jerusalem Governorate concluded its statement by calling for urgent international action to hold Israel accountable as a rogue state that violates international laws, and to hold its leaders accountable for the crimes and violations committed against the Palestinian people and their national and international institutions.
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