Israel Approves Military Facilities on UNRWA Grounds in Occupied East Jerusalem

Overview

• Israel’s government, which announced the step Sunday, approved building Israel Defense Forces facilities, including a military museum, on UNRWA property in occupied East Jerusalem.
• Officials said the building at the site had already been destroyed, with reports of heavy machinery operating there in January.
• UNRWA is the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and its compounds are treated as humanitarian space meant to keep aid workers and services safe.
• Israel has alleged UNRWA staff aided the October 2023 Hamas assault, and in January last year it enacted a law barring the agency’s activity inside Israel.
• Defense Minister Israel Katz called the plan deeply symbolic, a shift that could blur protections for UN premises and increase risks for people who rely on those facilities.