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Israeli security forces raided and shut down the Qalandia Training Centre this week, closing the final facility still run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in occupied East Jerusalem. The move triggered an immediate protest from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, whose spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, insisted that all UN premises enjoy inviolability and immunity from interference under international law.
The operation drew high-profile political backing. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took part in Tuesday's raid alongside a camera crew from the pro-government Channel 14, later posting footage of himself seated at the institute director's desk. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed he had ordered the evacuation of the compound, accusing UNRWA of complicity in the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 — allegations the agency has consistently rejected.
Established in 1952, the centre had been providing vocational training to roughly 340 Palestinians annually, teaching trades such as carpentry, car mechanics and plumbing. Though administratively part of East Jerusalem, it sits between the Qalandia and Kfar Aqab neighborhoods behind Israel's separation barrier, which allowed students from refugee camps throughout the West Bank to attend. Staff have now been expelled, and Israeli officials say equipment is being cleared out and that a section of the site will be converted into a school.
UNRWA condemned what it described as an unauthorised incursion into its premises, saying armed forces entered the compound without the consent or authorisation of the United Nations. Mr Dujarric added that the secretary general was deeply alarmed, warning that students would lose the vocational education they depended upon.
The closure follows Israeli legislation that took effect last year barring UNRWA from operating anywhere Israel considers its territory — including East Jerusalem, captured from Jordan in 1967 and annexed in a step most countries do not recognise — and prohibiting any contact between Israeli state bodies and the agency. Closure orders were also issued for six UNRWA schools in the city, halting classroom instruction for about 800 Palestinian children.
Israeli intelligence has asserted that at least 19 of the agency's staff participated in the October 2023 attack, which killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. A UN inquiry concluded that evidence pointed to possible involvement by nine employees, whose contracts were terminated, while finding insufficient or no support for the remaining claims. Israel has further charged that roughly 10 percent of UNRWA's Gaza workforce had ties to armed groups, something the agency says it has never received evidence for, while stressing it condemns any misuse of its facilities.
The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry urged the international community to act swiftly to safeguard the college, restore its personnel, and stop Israel from entrenching what it called an assault into a permanent reality. Founded after the 1948 war to assist displaced Palestinians, UNRWA serves more than 900,000 registered refugees in the West Bank, and many Palestinians view the pressure on the agency as an effort to erase the refugee question and their claim to a right of return.
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