Israel starts demolishing UN agency headquarters in East Jerusalem

admin Published: January 20, 2026 | Updated: January 20, 2026 3 min read

By Tal Shalev, CNN

(CNN) — Israel began demolishing the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem Tuesday, following passage of a law that banned the activities of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.

Police forces, alongside enforcement officers from the Israel Land Authority, arrived at the compound with bulldozers and engineering equipment and began demolishing the site, according to footage obtained by CNN. The Israel Land Authority said in a statement that law enforcement “secured full possession of the property and began clearing the premises.”

UNRWA slammed the move as “an unprecedented attack against a United Nations agency and its premises.” The agency wrote on X that it represented a “new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law, including of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, by the State of Israel.”

The UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities, which Israel joined in 1949, explicitly states that UN compounds and facilities “shall be inviolable” and “immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial, or legislate action.”

Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war and annexed it in 1980. International law and most of the international community consider the territory occupied, and the Palestinians want it as the capital of a future independent state. Israel considers the entire city as its “eternal capital.”

The Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement that “The State of Israel owns the Jerusalem compound,” adding that UNRWA had already ceased its operations at this site and the UN no longer maintains staff or activities there.

“The compound does not enjoy any immunity and its seizure was carried out in accordance with both Israeli and international law”, the ministry said, calling UNRWA “a greenhouse for terrorism that long ago ceased to be a humanitarian organization.”

Israel has longstanding issues with UNRWA, accusing it of aiding Hamas and calling for it to be dismantled entirely, allegations the agency has repeatedly denied. Following the October 7 Hamas-led attack, the government intensified its campaign against the UN agency, citing involvement of some of its employees and the use of its facilities in Gaza for attacks on Israel and to conceal Israeli hostages.

In late-2024, the Israeli parliament passed laws banning UNRWA operations in Israel and barring official contact with the agency. Further legislation in December 2025 prohibited providing water and electricity to UNRWA properties and allowing the state to reclaim land from the agency’s compounds in East Jerusalem. Another UNRWA property, located in the Kfar ‘Aqab area of East Jerusalem, is expected to undergo a similar process in the near future.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who arrived at the site to follow the police evacuation and demolition activities, said “This is a historic day, a day of celebration, and an important day for the restoration of governance in Jerusalem. For years, these supporters of terror operated here, and today they are being removed along with everything they built.”

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the demolition.

“The secretary general urges the government of Israel to immediately cease the demolition of the UNRWA Sheikh Jarrah compound, and to return and restore the compound and other UNRWA premises to the United Nations without delay,” his spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority called the demolition a “serious breach of all rules and norms of international law” and urged the UN and member states to take action to stop the demolitions.