Occupation forces demolish UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem, violating international law
The Zionist occupation’s bulldozers demolished on Tuesday structures inside the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency’s East Jerusalem compound, in an act condemned by UNRWA as a violation of international law.
The “Israeli” forces, accompanied by bulldozers, stormed the agency’s compound after sealing off surrounding streets and increasing their military presence in the area, proceeding to demolish structures within the compound, the Wafa news agency reported, citing local sources.
“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,” said Jonathan Fowler, a spokesperson for UNRWA.
Some former UNRWA staff said the structures demolished on Tuesday had been used to store aid for the West Bank and Gaza.
“The destruction today by the Israeli occupation is another message to the world that Israel is the only country that can demolish international law and get away with it,” said Hakam Shahwan, former chief of staff at UNRWA’s East Jerusalem headquarters.
The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) said the demolition and raid are part of ongoing attempts to dismantle UNRWA’s operations and eliminate the right of return for Palestinian refugees, guaranteed by UN Resolution 194.
“This is part of a continuous campaign by the occupying power targeting Palestinian refugee camps in the northern West Bank, working to undermine and reshape them as a testament to the Nakba, as part of its open war against the Palestinian people and its ongoing genocidal crimes in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” the network said in a statement.
UNRWA provides aid and services to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. It maintains infrastructure in Palestinian refugee camps and also runs schools and provides health care to refugees, who say it is critical to ensuring people receive basic services.
