7/2/2026- Union for Justice Foundation
In a new step that falls within a series of ongoing violations against the Palestinian presence in the city of Jerusalem, the Israeli occupation proceeded to demolish and burn the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the city of Jerusalem, in a measure carrying serious political and humanitarian dimensions. This demolition is not limited to targeting an administrative building; rather, it constitutes a direct assault on an international institution established by a UN resolution, and an assault on the right of thousands of Palestinian refugees to the essential services provided by the Agency. This event comes within the context of systematic attempts to undermine UNRWA’s role, erase the refugee issue, and impose new realities on the ground in a city considered among the most prominent and significant Palestinian cities threatened with displacement and demolition.
On the twentieth of January, Israeli forces stormed the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem, where bulldozers entered the compound and began demolishing the buildings inside it under the watch of legislators and one member of the occupation government.
The Commissioner-General of UNRWA, “Philippe Lazzarini,” described the incident as an “unprecedented attack” on a United Nations agency and its premises, stating that it represents a new level of explicit and deliberate defiance of international law, including the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by “Israel.”
The Secretary-General of the United Nations had strongly condemned the actions of the Israeli authorities aimed at demolishing the UNRWA compound in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. He urged the Government of “Israel” to immediately halt the demolition of the compound, calling for the restoration of the compound and other UNRWA premises to the United Nations without delay.
The foreign ministers of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom also strongly condemned the Israeli occupation’s demolition of the headquarters building of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Jerusalem on 20 January 2026.
The countries indicated that this unprecedented act against the United Nations, carried out by a member state of the organization, constitutes an unacceptable action targeting its ability to operate. They called on “Israel” to comply with its international obligations and to ensure the protection and inviolability of United Nations premises in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations adopted in 1946 and its Charter. The countries called on “Israel,” which enjoys membership in the United Nations, to immediately cease all demolition activities.
The countries also expressed their support for UNRWA’s indispensable mandate in providing essential services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Union for Justice believes that “Israel” has become dismissive of all international agreements and laws in its war against the Palestinian people and their land, beginning with its crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank and extending to its targeting of UNRWA, which was supposed to enjoy international immunity and protection.
