The government on Sunday approved plans to establish a new defense complex that will include an IDF museum, enlistment office, and an office for the defense minister, at the site of UNRWA’s former headquarters near Ammunition Hill in East Jerusalem.

According to a joint statement from the Defense Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality, the new complex will be built on a roughly 36-dunam (9-acre) site and is intended to strengthen the defense establishment’s presence in Israel’s capital.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the move is “a decision of sovereignty, Zionism and security,” arguing there is “nothing more symbolic or just” than establishing defense institutions “on the ruins of the UNRWA compound. ”

He repeated Israeli allegations that the UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, was complicit in Hamas terror activity.

“In a place where an organization operated that became part of the machinery of terror and incitement against Israel, institutions will now be established that strengthen Jerusalem, the IDF, and the State of Israel,” Katz said, adding, “This is a clear message to all our enemies: we will continue to build, strengthen, and deepen our hold on Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, from a position of strength.”

Israel began demolishing UNRWA’s East Jerusalem headquarters in January,........

© The Times of Israel