UNRWA’s headquarters in the West Bank have been repeatedly targeted by Israel [Getty]
The headquarters of Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA in occupied East Jerusalem was once again targeted by an arson attack on Monday evening, amid growing Israeli incitement and attacks against UN staff and facilities.
Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, explained in a statement posted on X that the building located in Sheikh Jarrah in the occupied territory “was once again subjected today to another arson attack”.
He further stated that the attack is part of a pattern of “repeated assaults, harassment, and threats” against UNRWA staff, and ongoing attacks on its facilities, which he says “provide humanitarian services to the most vulnerable Palestinian refugees.”
UN staff were forced to evacuate the headquarters in January 2025, with the implementation of Israeli laws outlawing UNRWA’s work in aiding millions of Palestinian refugees across the occupied territories.Â
UNRWA offices and staff have been facing an increase in attacks by settlers and supporters of the Israeli far-right, as part of the ongoing incitement campaign against the agency since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in 2023.Â
Senior staff at the agency have repeatedly complained that Israel is allowing its facilities to be attacked, with the the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consistently inciting violence against the agency.
The Israeli smear campaigns have targeted UNRWA’s humanitarian role in Gaza, accusing it repeatedly of supporting “terrorism”, claims that the UN has consistently denied, affirming that the agency abides by neutrality standards in its humanitarian work.Â
On 30 January, the Israeli government’s decision to ban UNRWA operations in occupied Jerusalem went into effect, forcing international staff members of the agency to leave the city as their Israeli permits expired.
Israel ordered UNRWA to vacate all its facilities in East Jerusalem and cease its operations there by the same date. The decision was conveyed in a letter from Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations to the organisation’s Secretary-General António Guterres on 24 January.Â
Since then, UNRWA has evacuated its main headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood—where it had been based since 1951—along with a clinic in the Old City and several schools across East Jerusalem, including a vocational training centre in Qalandiya. The agency had been providing services to a total of 70,000 patients and 1,150 students.
Israeli forces also stormed several schools operated by UNRWA in the West Bank in February, a day after the Israeli prime minister ordered the “immediate” enforcement of controversial legislation that outlaws the organisation.
Security forces fired tear gas and sound bombs during an assault on the UN agency’s training centre in Qalandia.
Officers forcefully entered the premises and ordered the more than 350 students and 30 staff members to immediately evacuate, he wrote in a post on X
