Jerusalem: Israeli settlers swooped into the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied Jerusalem earlier Monday afternoon, raising banners calling for its conversion into an Israeli facility.
According to Qatar News Agency, this incursion was described as an aggressive and provocative act that constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and United Nations resolutions. It is a direct targeting of UN institutions operating in the occupied Palestinian territory, the Jerusalem Governorate said in a press statement.
This act demonstrates the gravity of the colonial incursion backed by the Israeli occupation government, which targets everything related to Palestinian existence and international legitimacy, including the UN institutions operating there to provide humanitarian services for Palestinian refugees. The statement emphasized that this poses a challenge to international legitimacy and reflects the entrenchment of a policy of displacement and ethnic cleansing in the city of Jerusalem.
The statement held the Israeli occupation government fully responsible for this incident and its consequences. It called on the UN and the international community, especially the UN Secretary-General and UNRWA Commissioner-General, to act swiftly to protect UNRWA's facilities and staff and ensure its capability to discharge its duties without any threat or intervention.
In October 2024, the Israeli occupation authorities demanded that UNRWA evacuate its main headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unauthorized land use, imposing financial penalties on the agency and coercing it to pay tens of millions of shekels in retroactive rent for the years it had occupied the property.
In 2024, extremist settlers staged a series of protests outside UNRWA's headquarters, demanding its shuttering, and set fire to land in its perimeter, amid a sustained incitement campaign by settlers and senior Israeli officials against the agency, which affords services to Palestinian refugees. This is seen as an orchestrated attempt to terminate the refugee cause and permanently invalidate the right of their return.