Police raided the offices of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, in East Jerusalem Monday morning, according to the organization’s chief, amid an ongoing Israeli crackdown on the organization’s activities.

Officers pulled down the UN flag atop the compound and replaced it with an Israeli flag, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said, accusing Israel of “blatant disregard” for its obligation as a UN member state to respect the inviolability of UN premises.

With trucks and forklifts, the authorities took “furniture, IT equipment and other property,” Lazzarini said.

The raid took place after the Knesset passed a pair of laws in late October 2024 banning UNRWA from operating within Israeli territory. Despite the ban, UNRWA operations, including schools, healthcare and other social services, are still hobbling along in East Jerusalem.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the raid.

“This compound remains United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any other form of interference,” Guterres said in a statement. “I urge Israel to immediately take all necessary steps to restore, preserve and uphold the inviolability of UNRWA premises and to refrain from taking any further action with regard to UNRWA premises.”

Israeli police told AFP in a statement that the seizures were “carried out by the Jerusalem municipality as part of a........

© The Times of Israel