Israeli police raided a vocational training centre run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem on Monday. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said the operation was intended to force UNRWA to leave the building.
The raid came after repeated warnings from UNRWA, which had said Israeli authorities were threatening the Kalandia training centre, located between the Kafr Aqab neighbourhood in East Jerusalem and the Kalandia refugee camp.
The centre was established in 1952 and provides vocational training each year to about 340 Palestinians from the West Bank, according to UNRWA.
Ben Gvir's announcement
Ben Gvir wrote on Telegram that they were making history, saying that on Monday morning they had begun expelling UNRWA from Kafr Aqab.
In a statement, he said that on Monday morning, significant Israeli police forces, working with relevant agencies, were intervening to enforce the law and remove UNRWA from the premises.
He said an organisation whose employees had been involved in terrorism, and which had repeatedly served as a cover for Hamas, had no right to exist for one more second and had no place in Jerusalem or in the state of Israel.
Long-running dispute with Israel
UNRWA was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1949 to assist Palestinian refugees. It has long been a target of sharp criticism from Israel, which intensified after Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Israeli authorities accused UNRWA staff of taking part in the 7 October 2023 attack, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip, and banned all agency activity on Israeli territory in early 2025.
Following Israel's accusations, an international review found some issues relating to neutrality within UNRWA, but said Israel had not provided conclusive evidence to support its central claim that members of terrorist organisations were employed within the agency's ranks.
Israeli flag raised over the centre
Ben Gvir posted a photo on Telegram showing the Israeli flag raised on the roof of the centre, captioning it that UNRWA was now in their hands.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, a move not recognised by much of the international community.
Israel's foreign minister said the Jerusalem municipality had begun renovation work on Monday to create a new educational and community complex in the city's Kafr Aqab neighbourhood, for the benefit of thousands of Arab residents there.
The police operation took place the day after representatives of more than 25 diplomatic missions and international organisations visited the site.
