{"id":598149,"date":"2026-08-28T01:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/598149\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T01:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T01:30:09","slug":"israel-hits-back-at-unrwa-defenders-after-jerusalem-compound-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/598149\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel hits back at UNRWA defenders after Jerusalem compound raid"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday sharply criticized a joint statement by 15 countries and the European Union condemning Israel\u2019s entry into a UNRWA training center<\/a> in Kalandia and the seizure of the agency\u2019s facilities in eastern Jerusalem two days earlier.<\/p>\n

The countries called on Israel to \u201chonor its commitments\u201d and immediately stop what they described as interference with UNRWA\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n

The statement, signed by the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Spain, Japan, and other countries, reaffirmed their support for UNRWA<\/a> and argued that Israel\u2019s entry into the facilities was illegal. They said UN facilities are protected under international law and called on Israel to allow UNRWA to carry out its work without obstruction.<\/p>\n

In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said: \u201cYour facts are wrong. You support an organization that is a breeding ground for terrorism, and you prefer to attack Israel with baseless accusations instead of acting for the benefit of Arab children in Kafr Akab. This is a disgrace.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ministry also claimed that, according to a report by the USAID Office of Inspector General, which US President Donald Trump referenced on Thursday, more than 100 UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 Hamas attack.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cUNRWA employees served as terror operatives, and UNRWA facilities were systematically used for terror purposes,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n

The Foreign Ministry said this was the reason UNRWA operations in Israel were banned, adding that \u201call Israeli actions were carried out in accordance with Israeli law and international law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ministry further claimed that UNRWA never had property rights over the compound and that the organization had been using the site unlawfully. According to the ministry, the compound is planned to become a school and community center for children in the Kafr Akab neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The dispute comes two days after police forces raided a UNRWA training compound in Kafr Akab\u00a0, following an announcement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that \u201cin accordance with my directive and following the law we passed, the evacuation of the UNRWA compound in Kafr Akab in Jerusalem<\/a> begins today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu later clarified: \u201cThe State of Israel will not allow an organization whose employees were involved in terrorism and the October 7 massacre to operate in its territory and will act against it using all available tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to statements from both sides, the compound targeted in the raid was a \u201ctraining compound.\u201d UNRWA said the site housed refugees and hosted workshops and classes. Following the raid, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the Jerusalem Municipality had already begun work at the site to convert it into an educational center.<\/p>\n

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee previously approved legislation aimed at ending UNRWA\u2019s operations in Israel. The laws stipulate, among other measures, that UNRWA will not be permitted to operate a representative office, provide services, or conduct activities within Israel\u2019s sovereign territory.<\/p>\n

The legislation also calls for revoking the organization\u2019s diplomatic status and canceling diplomatic visas<\/a> for UNRWA personnel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Foreign Ministry on Thursday sharply criticized a joint statement by 15 countries and the European Union condemning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[15311,1685,18263,51,1031,85,46,3794,43,58,4497,4498],"class_list":["post-598149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-belgium","tag-european-union","tag-foreign-ministry","tag-hamas","tag-idf","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jerusalem","tag-news","tag-the-october-7-massacre","tag-united-nations","tag-unrwa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}