Jerusalem Municipality officials shut down on Tuesday a vocational center in Kalandiya Refugee Camp on the border between east Jerusalem and the West Bank on Tuesday, following a directive by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night to enforce a law intended to ban UNRWA’s operations in east Jerusalem, the Jerusalem Ministry confirmed in a statement.
According to the Israel Police, people uninvolved with the center began throwing stones at police officers stationed outside, who responded using riot dispersal methods.
UNRWA schools and health centers continued operating in east Jerusalem despite the law coming into effect on January 31, an official confirmed. The prime minister issued his directive after one of the ban’s proponents, Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, threatened to petition the High Court to force the government to enforce the law. However, the official said the results of his directive on the ground have yet to be determined.
Malinovsky and a number of other MKs passed the law after revelations that a number of UNRWA employees from Gaza had participated in the October 7 Hamas massacre, and that UNRWA facilities had been used in Gaza to hide arms and tunnel entrances. The law was published on October 30 and came into effect on January 31. A second law passed to stop Israeli cooperation with UNRWA in all other regions, including Gaza and the West Bank.
UNRWA’s main operations in east Jerusalem involved education, health services, and sanitation. The majority of its services were provided in the Shuafat Refugee Camp, which is under municipal jurisdiction but physically separated by the Separation Fence. Five-year programs to develop east Jerusalem and other programs largely do not operate in the camp, leaving it dependent on external services to a large extent.
According to a Jerusalem Ministry statement from late January, there are 788 students at seven UNRWA educational institutions – approximately 650 of them in three UNRWA schools in the refugee camp. In the “immediate timeframe,” these students will be “placed in schools near their homes” but on the other side of the fence. The municipality will provide busing, equipment, and renovations as necessary, according to the ministry.
In the medium-length timeframe, a new school will be founded in mobile caravans within the camp. This will take eight months. In the long-term, the authorities will construct an “educational campus” in the camp, and NIS 20 million has been set aside for that purpose, the ministry said.
Regarding health services, the ministry noted that UNRWA runs two healthcare services in east Jerusalem – a healthcare center in the Shuafat Refugee Camp, and a healthcare clinic for infants (“Tipat Chalav”) at the Old City’s Flowers Gate. In order to replace these services, the ministry added personnel to existing healthcare and “Tipat Chalav” centers in east Jerusalem, but also on the other side of the separation fence.
Jerusalem Minister Meir Porush said in a statement, "I commend the security forces for closing the UNRWA compound in Kafr ‘Aqab, following the Prime Minister's directive yesterday. We must act promptly to close and evacuate all UNRWA buildings in Jerusalem. There is no place for a terror-supporting body in our city."
MK Dan Illouz, who initiated the law against UNRWA, said "UNRWA is a branch of terror, a hostile organization that poisons minds and endangers Israeli lives. I welcome the fact that the law I initiated to shut it down is beginning to be implemented – this is a historic step for Israel’s security."
"Now, I demand its full and immediate enforcement without delays. Any delay is a reward for terrorists. There is no place for UNRWA in Israel – not in schools, not in training centers, and not anywhere. Eliminating UNRWA means eliminating the infrastructure of incitement and terror."
UNRWA officials responded to the closures
Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, wrote on X, “Children + young people in East Jerusalem denied of their right to education in UNRWA schools. Today, Israeli Forces & personnel from the Jerusalem Municipality have forcefully entered the UNRWA Kalandia Training Centre and ordered its immediate evacuation. At least 350 students and 30 staff were present and impacted. Tear gas and sound bombs were fired.”
“Also, this morning, Israeli police officers, accompanied by staff from the Jerusalem Municipality went to UNRWA schools ordering their closure. Today’s incidents have impacted 250 children in three UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem, +350 trainees in the Kalandia Training Centre, a large United Nations compound.”
“This is a violation of the basic right to #education as well as of United Nations privileges & immunities. Children’s access to education must be preserved + United Nations facilities must be protected and respected at all times wherever they are,” Lazarini concluded.
The Jerusalem Municipality could not be reached for comment.