A new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law, including of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel.
Early this morning, Israeli forces stormed the UNRWA Headquarters, a United Nations site, in East Jerusalem.
Bulldozers entered the compound and began demolishing buildings inside it under the watch of lawmakers and a member of the government.
This constitutes an unprecedented attack against a United Nations agency and its premises.
Like all UN Member States and countries committed to the international rule-based order, Israel is obliged to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises.
This comes in the wake of other steps taken by Israeli authorities to erase the Palestine Refugee identity.
On January 12, Israeli forces stormed into an UNRWA health centre in East Jerusalem & ordered it to close.
Water, power supplies to UNRWA facilities - including health and education buildings - are also scheduled to be cut in the coming weeks.
This is a direct result of legislation passed by the Israeli parliament in December, which stepped up existing anti-UNRWA laws adopted in 2024.
These actions, together with previous arson attacks and a large-scale disinformation campaign, fly in the face of the ruling in October by the International Court of Justice, which restated that Israel is obliged under international law to facilitate UNRWA's operations, not hinder or prevent them. The court also stressed that Israel has no jurisdiction over East Jerusalem.
There can be no exceptions.
This must be a wake-up call.
What happens today to UNRWA will happen tomorrow to any other international organisation or diplomatic mission, whether in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or anywhere around the world.
International law has come under increasing attack for too long and is risking irrelevancy in the absence of response by Member States.
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UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency's area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on.
UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.
