{"id":56557,"date":"2025-12-12T04:02:45","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T12:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=56557"},"modified":"2025-12-12T04:02:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T12:02:45","slug":"israeli-raid-on-unrwa-compound-slammed-as-dangerous-precedent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/12\/israeli-raid-on-unrwa-compound-slammed-as-dangerous-precedent\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Raid on UNRWA Compound Slammed as \u2018Dangerous Precedent\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/united-nations\">United Nations<\/a> officials and others strongly condemned Monday\u2019s raid by Israeli authorities on a facility run by the UN\u2019s office for Palestinian <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/refugees\">refugees<\/a> in occupied East Jerusalem \u2013 an act one rights group decried as part of an ongoing effort \u201cto undermine and ultimately eliminate\u201d the lifesaving agency.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli police and other officials forcibly entered the UN Relief and Works Agency for <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/palestine\">Palestine<\/a> Refugees in the Near East (<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/unrwa\">UNRWA<\/a>) compound early Monday, pulling down a UN flag on the facility\u2019s roof and <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/QudsNen\/status\/1998136375204593756\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">replacing it<\/a> with an Israeli one. Israeli officials said the raid was ordered over unpaid taxes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey call it \u2018<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/debt\">debt<\/a> collection\u2019 \u2013 we call it erasure,\u201d Claudia Webbe, a socialist former member of British Parliament, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ClaudiaWebbe\/status\/1998141838289408231\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> on <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/social-media\">social media<\/a>. \u201cOver 70,000 dead in <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/gaza\">Gaza<\/a>, they now seek to kill the memory of the living. The occupation must end.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-twitter\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is the Israeli police occupying the UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem and replacing the UN flag with the Israeli flag today. They are colonising even UN buildings. Perfect illustration of the current state of affairs. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fQ1AQv8uOC\">pic.twitter.com\/fQ1AQv8uOC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeruginiNic\/status\/1998125552885272825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<p>Police vehicles including motorcycles, trucks, and forklifts entered the compound, while communications were cut and furniture, computer equipment, and other property were seized from the facility, according to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis latest action represents a blatant disregard of Israel\u2019s obligation as a United Nations member state to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises,\u201d Lazzarini said in a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unrwa.org\/newsroom\/official-statements\/unrwa-commissioner-general-occupied-west-bank-israeli-authorities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo allow this represents a new challenge to <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/international-law\">international law<\/a>, one that creates a dangerous precedent anywhere else the UN is present across the world,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres was among the other senior UN officials who condemned Monday\u2019s raid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis compound remains United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any other form of interference,\u201d he <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2025\/12\/1166530\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI urge <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/israel\">Israel<\/a> 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, in line with its obligations under the charter of the United Nations and its other obligations under international law,\u201d Guterres added.<\/p>\n<p>In late 2024, Israeli lawmakers approved a ban on UNRWA in Israel over <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/icj-israel-ruling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disproven<\/a> allegations that some of its staffers were <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/hamas\">Hamas<\/a> members who took part in the October 7, 2023 attack. Those accusations led to numerous nations suspending financial support for UNRWA, although most of the countries have since <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/unrwa-funding-2667469058\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">restored<\/a> funding. Israel has also sought to ban UNRWA from <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/gaza\">Gaza<\/a> since early 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli forces have <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unrwa.org\/resources\/reports\/unrwa-situation-report-192-situation-gaza-strip-and-west-bank-including-east-jerusalem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">killed<\/a> more than 370 UNRWA staff members since October 2023 and destroyed or damaged over 300 of the agency\u2019s facilities in Gaza. Lazzarini and others have also <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/icj-hearing-unrwa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accused<\/a> Israeli forces of torturing UNRWA staffers in a bid to force false confessions of Hamas involvement.<\/p>\n<p>In October, the International Court of Justice \u2013 which is currently weighing a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/south-africa-icj-genocide-israel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">genocide case<\/a> against Israel \u2013 <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/icj-israel-ruling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> that UNRWA has not been infiltrated by Hamas as claimed by Israeli leaders.<\/p>\n<p>Others also condemned Monday\u2019s raid, including <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/human-rights\">Human Rights<\/a> Watch (HRW), which <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/loucharbon\/status\/1998151565304017344\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a> the action part of an effort \u201cto undermine and ultimately eliminate a United Nations agency providing vital services to millions of Palestinian refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGovernments should condemn Israel\u2019s unlawful moves against UNRWA and urgently act to stop further abuses,\u201d HRW added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>United Nations officials and others strongly condemned Monday\u2019s raid by Israeli authorities on a facility run by the UN\u2019s office for Palestinian refugees in occupied East Jerusalem \u2013 an act one rights group decried as part of an ongoing effort \u201cto undermine and ultimately eliminate\u201d the lifesaving agency. Israeli police and other officials forcibly entered [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[806],"class_list":["post-56557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"0","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"\u201cThis latest action represents a blatant disregard of Israel\u2019s obligation as a United Nations member state to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises,\u201d said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56560,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56557\/revisions\/56560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56557"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=56557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}