UN condemns Israel’s ‘unprecedented’ demolition of its Palestinian assist company constructing in East Jerusalem

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Israel demolished constructions contained in the UN Palestinian refugee company's East Jerusalem compound on Tuesday after seizing the location final 12 months, in an act condemned by the company as a violation of worldwide regulation.

Surrounded by Israeli forces, bulldozers razed a number of massive buildings and different smaller constructions contained in the United Nations Reduction and Works Company's compound, the place dozens of company employees as soon as labored.

UNRWA, which Israel has accused of bias, has not used the constructing because the begin of final 12 months, after Israel ordered it to vacate all its premises and stop its operations.

A spokesperson for UNRWA, Jonathan Fowler, advised Reuters that Israeli forces entered the compound round 7 a.m. native time, pressured out the compound's safety guards after which introduced in bulldozers to start demolishing buildings inside.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini condemned the demolition in a press release on X, calling it "a brand new stage of open and deliberate defiance of worldwide regulation."

He mentioned it was the newest in a sequence of Israeli actions towards UNRWA, together with a raid on a medical clinic this month and a plan to chop energy and water to UNRWA services within the coming weeks.

Some former UNRWA employees mentioned the constructions demolished on Tuesday had been used to retailer assist for the West Financial institution and Gaza.

"The destruction as we speak by the Israeli occupation is one other message to the world that Israel is the one nation that may demolish worldwide regulation and get away with it," mentioned Hakam Shahwan, former chief of employees at UNRWA's East Jerusalem headquarters.

Israel's parliament handed a regulation in October 2024 banning the company from working within the nation and prohibiting officers from having contact with the company. Canada criticized the act on the time as setting a "harmful precedent."

On Tuesday, Israel's far-right Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video on social media standing in entrance of the UNRWA compound as a bulldozer started to tear it down.

"It is a historic day, it is a vacation," mentioned Ben-Gvir.

Accusations of bias Israel has alleged that some UNRWA employees have been members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and took half within the assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 Israelis, based on Israeli tallies, and led to Israel's struggle towards Hamas, which Gazan authorities say has killed greater than 71,000 Palestinians.

WATCH | Israel follows by way of on earlier UNRWA threats (2024): Israel tells UN it's ending settlement with Palestinian aid company

Israel has formally notified the UN that it’s cancelling the settlement that had regulated its relations with the primary UN aid group for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, since 1967. UNRWA has fired a number of employees members however mentioned Israel had not offered proof for all of the allegations towards its employees.

In his assertion, Lazzarini mentioned that Israel had performed "a large-scale disinformation marketing campaign" towards UNRWA.

The Israeli overseas ministry mentioned "the seizure of this compound by Israeli authorities was carried out in accordance with each Israeli and worldwide regulation."

Israel's Jerusalem municipality raided the compound final 12 months, saying UNRWA had didn't pay property taxes after a number of warnings. UNRWA mentioned the company had no money owed to the municipality.

The company operates in East Jerusalem, which the UN and most international locations contemplate territory occupied by Israel. Israel considers all Jerusalem to be a part of the nation.

UNRWA additionally operates in Gaza, the West Financial institution and elsewhere within the Center East, offering education, well being care, social companies and shelter to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.