Israel on Tuesday began demolishing the East Jerusalem headquarters of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, with Israeli forces entering the compound with bulldozers and other demolition equipment in the early morning and destroying buildings in what UNRWA called an “unprecedented attack.”

The move to demolish UNRWA’s headquarters comes after years of legislative measures against the agency, which Israel accuses of collusion with Hamas and participation in terror activities.

The Knesset passed a pair of laws in late October 2024 banning UNRWA from operating within Israeli territory. Despite the ban, UNRWA operations, including schools, healthcare and other social services, are still hobbling along in East Jerusalem.

UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said in a statement to the international press that Israeli forces “stormed into” the compound shortly after 7 a.m. local time.

“This is an unprecedented attack against UNRWA and its premises. And it also constitutes a serious violation of international law and the privileges and immunities of the United Nations,” he added.

Israel defended the move to demolish the compound, with the Foreign Ministry saying in a statement that “UNRWA-Hamas had already ceased its operations at this site and no longer had any........

© The Times of Israel