The spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Adnan Abu-Hasna, condemned Israel’s raid on the agency’s headquarters in East Jerusalem, calling it “a real wake-up call for the entire international community.”
He emphasized that this represents a dangerous defiance of international law.
Abu-Hasna explained that Israel’s forces stormed the UNRWA headquarters, one of the United Nations sites in East Jerusalem, early Tuesday morning, and bulldozers entered the compound and began demolishing buildings and facilities within it, under the watchful eyes of several Israeli lawmakers and a member of the government.
He added that the raid on the UNRWA headquarters is part of a broader context of measures taken by the Israeli authorities in recent months, aimed at undermining the agency’s work and erasing the identity of Palestinian refugees, particularly in East Jerusalem.
This systematic policy targets the UN and humanitarian presence in the occupied territories, Abu-Hasna said.
He noted that Israeli authorities had informed the UNRWA of their intention to cut off water, electricity, and communications to a number of its facilities in the coming weeks, including health and educational buildings.
“This would almost completely disrupt its ability to continue providing vital services to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees”, Abu-Hasna warned.
UNRWA slams Israel’s actions
The Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, condemned Israel’s demolition of UNRWA buildings in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem, calling it an “unprecedented challenge” and emphasizing that Israel is obligated to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises.
In a post on the X platform, Lazzarini said, “This is a new level of blatant and deliberate defiance of international law, including the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel.”
He also described Israel’s actions as part of a “large-scale disinformation campaign.”
Lazzarini warned that what is happening to the UNRWA could happen tomorrow to any other international organization or diplomatic mission, whether in the occupied Palestinian territories or anywhere else in the world.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile considered the inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in the “Board of Peace” to be a “red line” for Israel, stressing that he is considering escalatory steps towards Washington, including threatening to use what Israeli sources described as the “Israeli veto right”.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
