UN condemns 'unlawful seizure' of UNRWA facility in East Jerusalem

United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process ad interim Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov has condemned the evacuation of an UNRWA facility in East Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The condemnation came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier in the day that the facility in Kafr Aqab would be evacuated that later that same day.

"The State of Israel will not allow an organization whose employees were involved in terrorism and the October 7 massacre to operate on its territory and will act against it with all means," he said.

“I strongly condemn today’s unauthorized entry and unlawful seizure by Israeli authorities of the United Nations facility operated by UNRWA," he said. "The Kalandia Training Centre is United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any form of interference."

"Executive, administrative, judicial, or legislative actions directed against United Nations premises, property, or assets are prohibited under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations."

Alakbarov also highlighted that closing the facility would "immediately deprive 340 Palestine refugee youth from the West Bank of their right to education, with thousands more at risk of being affected in the years ahead."

He called on the government to reverse its actions and "withdraw from the facility, and to restore its full inviolability without delay."