Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Tuesday that Israel was “making history” by removing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from its facilities, following an Israeli operation at the agency’s Qalandia training centre.
In a video posted on X from inside the facility, Ben-Gvir accused UNRWA of supporting “terrorism” and declared that the agency would not be allowed to return to the site.
“The director of the UNRWA institute used to sit here, and now I am sitting in his place,” Ben-Gvir said. “Under my watch, there is no UNRWA and no director. They will not return here.”
He said Israeli police, the military, the prison service and other security agencies had participated in what he described as a large-scale operation to “expel UNRWA.”
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Ben-Gvir also announced that a boys’ school would be established at the site, adding: “Those who support terrorism must be expelled and shamed.”
UNRWA, meanwhile, said Israeli forces had forcibly entered its Qalandia Training Centre, accompanied by more than 50 security personnel.
The agency condemned the operation as an “unauthorized and deeply troubling incursion,” saying the entry of armed Israeli security personnel into a UN facility without its permission or consent was unacceptable.
UNRWA warned that attempts to seize or interfere with its premises and activities threaten the UN’s ability to carry out its mandate.
The agency also reiterated that its facilities, staff and operations are protected by the privileges and immunities afforded to the United Nations under international law.
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