UN protests after Israel Police raids UNRWA Jerusalem HQ, seizes equipment & raises Israeli flag

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini strongly condemned Israel on Monday, after Jerusalem police and municipality forces raided the organization's headquarter in East Jerusalem.

In October 2024, the Israeli Knesset banned UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, from operating on Israeli territory.

Throughout the more than two years of war, Israel revealed numerous instances of cooperation between UNRWA and terror groups like Hamas. For example, information was released showing that around 10% of its Gaza-based staff were members of terror groups.

Despite the ban last year, Israeli media outlets have reported that most UNRWA services in East Jerusalem, which include schools and healthcare have continued.

On Monday, the Jerusalem municipality said it confiscated equipment in the UNRWA headquarters “as part of a debt-collection procedure.”

Lazzarini, who has been declared persona non grata by Israel, wrote on 𝕏 that “Police motorcycles, as well as trucks & forklifts, were brought in & all communications were cut. Furniture, IT equipment & other property was seized. The UN flag was pulled down & replaced with an Israeli flag.”

He added that due to “anti-UNRWA legislation passed by the Israeli parliament in breach of its international obligations, UNRWA personnel were forced to vacate the compound at the beginning of this year.”

“Police are present to secure the municipality’s activity,” Jerusalem police spokesman Dean Elsdunne told AFP in a statement, adding that the debt had accrued due to a municipal occupancy tax known as arnona.

The Jerusalem municipality said the organization had unpaid property taxes of NIS 11 million ($US3.4 million) and had ignored multiple warnings.

“This is a substantial debt that required collection after repeated requests, warnings and numerous opportunities given to settle it, which were not answered,” the municipality told Reuters.

The United Nations disputed Israel’s argument, and Secretary-General Guterres said he “strongly” condemned the “unauthorized entry” into the compound in “occupied East Jerusalem.”

Today in the early morning, Israeli police accompanied by municipal officials forcibly entered the @UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem. Police motorcycles, as well as trucks & forklifts, were brought in & all communications were cut. Furniture, IT equipment & other property was…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) December 8, 2025

“This compound remains United Nations premises and is inviolable and immune from any other form of interference. As recently confirmed by the International Court of Justice, any executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action against United Nations property and assets is prohibited under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations,” Guterres claimed.

“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.”

Lazzarini added that Israel’s action showed “blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations Member State to protect & respect the inviolability of UN premises.”

He also brushed aside Israel’s allegations against his organization as a “large-scale disinformation campaign.”

According to a report by the Times of Israel (TOI) in April, most UNRWA operations in East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria continued despite the new laws, apparently due to confusion over the authorities’ responsibilities in the complex legal situation of these areas.

For example, a large UNRWA hub is located in the Shuafat refugee camp, which is technically part of the Jerusalem municipality and within Israel’s declared sovereign territory, but is located on the Palestinian side of the separation barrier and difficult for municipal teams to access safely.

At the time of the report, TOI said that “two UNRWA-run schools, several healthcare centers, and social service facilities in Shuafat continue to operate as usual.”

Later on Monday, Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said in response to a question about the raid that “UNRWA has proven its enormous failures, and it’s time for it to be dismantled.”