The recent Israeli raid on a vacant United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees compound in East Jerusalem has ignited a fresh wave of international criticism and intensified an already fraught confrontation between the Israeli authorities and the UN agency. Jerusalem municipal officials, supported by police, raided the site in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, long administered by UNRWA, on December 8. Officers brought in motorcycles, trucks and forklifts, seized furniture, computers and other equipment, cut communications and removed the UN flag before raising the Israeli flag over the building.
The Jerusalem municipality characterised the operation as a standard enforcement action to recover what it asserted were longstanding unpaid municipal occupancy taxes known as arnona. According to the municipality, UNRWA had accumulated property tax arrears amounting to roughly $3.4 million despite repeated warnings. The officials insisted that after many reminders and opportunities for the agency to resolve the debt, the authorities were left with no option but to intervene and secure the assets.
UNRWA flatly rejected the municipality’s claims. The agency argued that under the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, which Israel has ratified, all UN properties and assets are exempt from taxation imposed by a host country. A spokesperson stated that the agency held no such debts and that the premises remained legally inviolable regardless of the steps taken by the Israeli authorities. Agency leaders reiterated that UN compounds cannot be entered, searched or seized by domestic authorities and that the removal of property and the raising of a national flag constituted a clear breach of international law.
The agency’s Commissioner General, Philippe Lazzarini, condemned the raid as a direct violation of Israel’s obligations as a UN member state. He warned that the action set a dangerous precedent that could threaten UN operations worldwide. The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, issued a similar response. He stressed that the site continues to be recognised as United Nations property and demanded that Israel restore and uphold the compound’s inviolability without delay.
The raid came at a time of increasing pressure on the agency from the Israeli government. The building raided had been empty since early in the year after Israeli authorities ordered UNRWA to cease operations within Israel and vacate all premises. In October 2024, the Knesset passed legislation banning UNRWA from conducting activities on Israeli territory. That measure was accompanied by protests outside various UNRWA facilities, as well as arson attacks and other forms of harassment. Critics of the law argued that it was part of a broader effort by Israel to dismantle the agency altogether.
That effort intensified following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, senior Israeli officials have accused UNRWA of collusion with militant groups. Israel has alleged that some employees were involved in the attack and that a significant proportion of the agency’s staff in Gaza have links to proscribed organisations. Israeli authorities have also said they discovered a Hamas data centre beneath UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza and have claimed that militants operated from or stored weapons in UNRWA schools. Former hostages have given accounts of being held in buildings associated with the agency.
UNRWA has denied the allegations and has asked for independent investigations, insisting that it has dismissed staff members in the past when credible evidence was presented. In October, the International Court of Justice found the Israeli claims unsubstantiated, although the ruling did little to reduce political pressure. Several major donors suspended funding in response to the allegations, prompting a severe financial crisis within an agency that already faced significant operational challenges during the war in Gaza. The withholding of funds has had profound effects on the delivery of food, medical care and shelter at a time when conditions in Gaza remain catastrophic.
UNRWA was founded in 1949 to provide assistance to Palestinians displaced during the creation of Israel the previous year. Today, it remains the largest humanitarian organisation working in Gaza and the West Bank and also operates in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The agency provides education, health care and social services to millions of registered Palestinian refugees. For many Palestinians, the agency’s presence is inseparable from the right of return recognised by the international community and its protection is viewed as essential to preserving that claim.
The storming of the East Jerusalem compound highlights the unresolved clash between Israel’s assertion of domestic jurisdiction and its commitments under international law. For the municipality, the building is subject to local tax regulations, while for UNRWA and the wider UN system, the premises enjoy immunity and must remain untouched by domestic law enforcement.