EAST JERUSALEM, 08 Dec. - (ANA) - Israeli forces raided the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday morning, in the latest assault on the body by Israeli authorities.

 

Troops stormed the premises, carried out searches and confiscated the phones of security guards, witnesses told Palestinian news agency WAFA.

 

The Jerusalem Governorate said security guards were detained during the raid, which occurred during the early hours of the morning.

 

Israeli forces stormed the premises in "sizeable numbers" and were seen taking trucks and forklifts into the compound, UNRWA told The New Arab.

 

The agency has been unable to make contact with anyone inside after communications were cut, although there were no UN staff in the building at the time.

 

"The unauthorised and forcible entry by Israeli forces is an unacceptable violation of UNRWA's privileges and immunities as a UN agency," said agency spokesperson Tamara Alrifai.

 

The governorate said Israel's actions constituted a flagrant violation of international law and a serious violation of the immunity and dignity of UN institutions in a statement.

 

Jordan's foreign ministry also condemned the raid, saying that Israel's continued assault on the agency would have "catastrophic repercussions".

 

Israeli authorities have attempted to cripple the agency's operations in Gaza and the West Bank in the wake of the 7 October attacks and cut off a vital lifeline for millions of Palestinian refugees.

 

In March, an Israeli ban on the organisation came into force, hugely curtailing its operations in the West Bank, where more than 900,000 Palestinians rely on its services.

 

A number of schools have been forced to close, and senior staff relocated to Jordan after its Jerusalem office was shuttered. Israeli lawmakers are currently discussing legislation that would cut water and electricity services to its facilities and expel it from East Jerusalem.

 

In Gaza, the Israeli military has killed more than 360 UNRWA employees since launching its devastating assault in October 2023. Schools and health clinics operated by the agency across the strip have been targeted.

 

The agency has been the backbone of aid efforts in Gaza during the war, distributing two-thirds of all food, providing shelter to more than one million displaced people, and vaccinating hundreds of thousands of children against polio.

 

UNRWA was established by the UN in 1949 after more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their land by Israeli paramilitaries.

 

Its 30,000 staff members provide education, healthcare and social services to six million Palestinian refugees living in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and surrounding Arab countries.

 

 

 

 

 

A Palestinian man has died after being wounded by Israeli troops new Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to WAFA.

 

Palestinian authorities confirmed on Monday that Baraa Bilal Issa Qablan, 21, had died after being shot and detained by Israeli forces.

 

The attack, which took place on the Qalqilya-Nablus road, killed another man, 19-year-old Momen Nidal Abu Riyash.

 

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities issued new demolition orders for more than 10 buildings in a Bedouin community south-east of Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Governorate said on Sunday.

 

The governorate said that 27 structures had been demolished during November, which it said marked a serious escalation against Palestinians in the city.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/08 December 2025 - - -