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Israeli security forces have taken over and shuttered the Qalandia Training Centre, the final facility still run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) in occupied East Jerusalem. The raid, carried out on Tuesday, prompted swift condemnation from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, whose spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, stressed that international law renders all United Nations premises inviolable and shielded from interference.
The operation was personally publicised by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who accompanied officers during the incursion and later posted footage of himself seated at the institute director's desk, accompanied by a camera crew from the pro-government Channel 14. "Thank God, on my shift there is no Unrwa, there is no management, they will not be here," he declared in the video.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed he had ordered the compound's evacuation under Kafr Aqab, saying Israel would never permit an organisation whose staff were implicated in terrorism and the 7 October 2023 massacre to function within its territory. Unrwa strongly rejects the accusations.
Established in 1952, the centre offered vocational training to roughly 340 Palestinians annually, teaching trades such as carpentry, plumbing and car mechanics. Although situated in East Jerusalem, its position between Qalandia and Kfar Aqab lies beyond Israel's separation barrier, allowing students from refugee camps throughout the West Bank to attend. Staff were expelled during the seizure, and Israeli officials say equipment is being cleared out with part of the site slated to become a school.
Unrwa said it "unequivocally condemns" what it described as an unauthorised and deeply troubling entry into the centre, insisting that armed forces entering a UN installation without the organisation's consent is unacceptable. The UN chief warned that the closure would strip young people of the vocational education they depended upon.
Tuesday's action follows legislation that took effect last year prohibiting Unrwa from operating in areas Israel considers its own, including East Jerusalem, which was captured from Jordan in 1967 and subsequently annexed in a step most states do not recognise. The same law bars Israeli authorities from any contact with the agency. Closure orders were previously issued against six Unrwa schools in the city, halting classroom instruction for around 800 Palestinian children.
Israel has alleged that at least 19 agency staff participated in the October 2023 assault on southern Israel, which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. A UN inquiry concluded there was evidence pointing to possible involvement by nine employees, whose contracts were terminated, while finding insufficient support for the remaining claims. Israel also asserts that a tenth of Unrwa's Gaza workforce maintains ties to armed groups; the agency says it has never received supporting evidence from Israeli authorities.
The Palestinian foreign ministry urged governments worldwide to act immediately to safeguard the college, secure the return of its personnel and stop Israel from entrenching what it called an assault into a permanent fait accompli. Founded after 1948 to aid displaced Palestinians, Unrwa now serves more than 900,000 registered refugees in the West Bank, and many Palestinians view the campaign against it as an effort to erase the refugee question and their claim of return.
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