UN reprehends Israel's unauthorised entry of UNRWA facility in East Jerusalem
On 8 December 2025 Israeli police, accompanied by municipal officials, forcibly entered the UNRWA facility in East Jerusalem. The Israeli police raid resulted in the seizure of furniture, IT equipment and of other property, the removal of the UN flag and its replacement with an Israeli flag, alongside the cutting of all communications.
UNRWA is the UN agency providing health, education and other services to roughly six million Palestine refugees in five locations in the Middle East, including the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Due to the nature of the UNRWA, its compounds are United Nations premises and are inviolable and immune from other forms of interference, UN Secretary-General António Guterres refers in a statement.
Guterres further states that “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, in line with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and its other obligations under international law.”
Mr. Lazzarini, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), stated that “This latest action represents a blatant disregard of Israel’s obligation as a United Nations Member State to protect and respect the inviolability of UN premises”, “To allow this represents a new challenge to international law, one that creates a dangerous precedent anywhere else the UN is present across the world.”
Furthermore, Mr. Lazzarini said the East Jerusalem compound has been vacant since the beginning of the year after the Israeli parliament passed “anti-UNRWA legislation”. This was preceded by months of harassment, including arson attacks in 2024, as well as hateful demonstrations and intimidation, supported by a large-scale disinformation campaign. To this regard, the UNRWA chief stated “However, whatever action taken domestically, the compound retains its status as a UN premises, immune from any form of interference”.
Israel is a party to the Convention on the Privileges & Immunities of the UN – the international treaty that “makes UN premises inviolable - in other words, immune from search and/or seizure - and makes UN property and assets immune from legal process,” he said. Furthermore, he added that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) “has also underscored that Israel is obliged to cooperate with UNRWA and other UN agencies.”