Israel seizes UN facility in East Jerusalem and vows to close it down

Israeli authorities have sparked another confrontation with the United Nations after seizing a UN facility in East Jerusalem and promising to close it down permanently.

Police entered a training centre run by UNRWA, the agency that supports Palestinian refugees, ordering the staff to leave and take control of the facility, known as the Qalandiya training centre.

They were accompanied by far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who echoed long-standing criticism of the agency. The Israeli government claims that UNRWA had become "riddled" with Hamas members, some of whom took part in the October 7 attacks.

Ben-Gvir was filmed sitting behind a desk he said was used previously by the training centre director. "UNRWA is out," he said. "The terrorists must be expelled from every place in the State of Israel."

UNRWA terminated the contracts of nine members of staff accused of involvement in the October 7 attacks, but said Israel has not supplied evidence to substantiate its allegations of widespread infiltration by Hamas.

In a statement, UNRWA said that "it unequivocally condemns" Israel's seizure of the facility and said that "the entry of armed security forces into a United Nations facility, without the authorisation or consent of the United Nations, is unacceptable".

The centre was established more than 70 years ago and has taught professional skills to thousands of Palestinians.

Separately, the UN's Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Dr Ramiz Alakbarov, said that the centre should be "inviolable and immune from any form of interference". He called on the Israeli government to "withdraw from the facility" and to observe "its obligations under international law".

Under a 1946 UN convention, UN premises are considered "inviolable" while UN property and assets are immune from "search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference".

There is no obvious precedent in UN history for a UN member state to take over a functioning UN facility, against the wishes of the UN, to convert the site for its own purposes.

In January, Israeli authorities demolished UNRWA's headquarters compound in Sheikh Jarrah, in occupied East Jerusalem.

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The UN insists the site is still a UN premises, but Israel has already put forward plans to turn it into a military complex, including an army museum, a recruitment centre and an office for the defence mInister.

The Jerusalem municipal authorities claim that the site was never legally owned by UNRWA. They say it will now be redeveloped as an educational and community complex for local residents, including a school, a mosque, health centres and sports facilities.

Oren Marmorstein, spokesperson for the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs, said: "UNRWA has no property rights in this facility and has tried to obstruct the opening of this school. At the end of the day, UNRWA and the UN are choosing to oppose this project. They are choosing politics over children."

(c) Sky News 2026: Israel seizes UN facility in East Jerusalem and vows to close it down