Occupied Jerusalem (QNN)- Israeli forces raided the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied Jerusalem early Monday. Municipal teams from the Jerusalem Municipality followed the Israeli forces and searched the site. They also took the guards’ phones.
In a short English statement, UNRWA said large numbers of Israeli security forces arrived at the compound and remain inside. The agency said it has no further information because communications with staff were cut.
UNRWA stressed that no UN employees were present during the raid. It called the forced, unauthorized entry “an unacceptable violation” of the agency’s privileges and immunities as a UN body.
UNRWA noted that Israel is a party to the UN Convention on the Privileges and Immunities (Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations), which protects UN premises, property, and assets from inspection and seizure.
Israeli attacks on UNRWA have escalated since October 2024. On 28 October 2024, the Knesset passed two laws that ban UNRWA from operating in areas Israel considers under its sovereignty. The laws also removed the agency’s privileges and blocked any official Israeli contact with it.
On 28 January this year, Israel closed the agency’s “presidency” office in Sheikh Jarrah under the same laws. Harassment of UNRWA continued in the months that followed.
