Eleven Countries, Including France and U.K., Condemn Israel's Demolition of UNRWA HQ

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-01-29/ty-article/.premium/eleven-countries-including-france-and-u-k-condemn-israels-demolition-of-unrwa-hq/0000019c-08f9-dec4-adfd-fcfd42210000?

The countries said Israel's move to demolish the UN agency's East Jerusalem headquarters, the latest in an escalating campaign against UNRWA, was an 'unacceptable attempt to undermine the institution.' The Israeli government has announced plans to build housing units on the site

Haaretz Editorial       29 January 2026

Israeli bulldozers demolish the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem earlier this month. Credit: Mahmoud Illean/AP

France and 10 other countries condemned on Thursday Israel's demolition of the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem last week, calling it "another unacceptable attempt to undermine the institution's capacity to act." 

The joint statement, also signed by the foreign ministers of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, urged Israel "to respect its international obligations to guarantee the protection and inviolability of UN premises in accordance with the provisions of the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and the UN Charter."

On January 20, Israel Land Authority officers accompanied by police demolished buildings at UNRWA's headquarters in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. 

UNRWA officials condemned the move, which was praised by Israeli government officials. Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared at the demolition site, calling it "a historic day" for governance in the city. Calling the agency's staff "terrorist supporters," he said that such measures would be taken against anyone supporting terror in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King vowed to "kick out, kill and destroy all of UNRWA's people, god willing."

 Members of the Israeli forces stand together at the Jerusalem headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on the day the headquarters is dismantled by them, in East Jerusalem, earlier this month. Credit: Ammar Awad/ REUTERS

The demolition was carried out as part of two Israeli laws banning UNRWA came into effect last year, prohibiting UNRWA operations inside Israel and any ties between UNRWA and Israeli authorities. The most direct threat was to the agency's operations in East Jerusalem, which is defined as an area under Israeli sovereignty.

Covering about 46 dunams in a central location, the compound had been serving UNRWA for decades and functioned as the agency's headquarters and operations center in East Jerusalem. The Israel Land Authority said that although UNRWA's official activity at the site ended about a year ago, the compound remained unlawfully occupied by trespassers and locals.

A locked UNRWA school in East Jerusalem, last February. Israel's anti-UNRWA laws went into effect a month earlier. Credit: Shira Diamant

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The demolition of the East Jerusalem headquarters was the latest in an escalating series of steps against UNRWA facilities in Jerusalem. A week prior, Israeli police ordered the closure of an UNRWA clinic in Jerusalem's Old City which has operated since the 1950s and provides medical services to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem who hold refugee status. The closure came alongside notice to UNRWA by the Jerusalem District Electricity Company that it will cut power to ten of the organization's health and education facilities in Jerusalem within 15 days.

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