U.N. Agency That Helps Palestinians Says it Has Closed its headquarters in East Jerusalem After Attacks and Fire — NYT

The leader of the agency said Israeli residents had set the fire, which caused extensive damage, but that no staff had been injured.

The main United Nations agency that aids Palestinians, known as UNRWA, said on Thursday that it would temporarily close its headquarters in East Jerusalem for the safety of its staff after parts of the compound were set on fire following weeks of attacks.

“This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem,” said the leader of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, on social media. The fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas of the compound, Mr. Lazzarini said, but that no workers from UNRWA or other U.N. agencies suffered injuries. He added that some of the workers “had to put out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up.”

..On Friday, Israeli police said in a statement that an investigation was started on “suspicion of a brush fire ignition” next to the UNRWA facility and that preliminary findings suggested it was started by minors and was therefore not subject to criminal prosecution. It offered no further details, but said the investigation was still going on.

..The attack put the lives of U.N. staff at “serious risk” and came two days after protesters threw stones at staff members at the compound, Mr. Lazzarini said.

Protests by Israeli settlers calling for UNRWA’s closure have been continuing for months. “On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns,” Mr. Lazzarini said in Thursday’s social media post, adding that under international law, it is Israel’s responsibility “as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times.”

Many Israeli officials have called for years for UNRWA to be dismantled, and the agency lost funding from some donor countries earlier this year after Israel accused a dozen of its employees of being involved in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7. [these accusations came RIGHT after the UN's ICJ released their historic Jan 26th verdict]

An independent review commissioned by the U.N. and released in April found that Israel had not provided any evidence to support its further accusations that many UNRWA staff members were members of terrorist organizations.

🔗SOURCE ➡️ NYT [ Archive]

Related: 5/09 — Israeli settlers attacked the UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem, setting fire to its surroundings. It is reported that Israeli authorities did not intervene or make any arrests.

4/24 — Germany to Restart UNRWA Funding as Israeli Smear Campaign Collapses

4/22 — UN Report Demolishes Israeli Propaganda Campaign Against UNRWA

3/28 — Israel’s Attempt to Destroy UNRWA is Part of Its Starvation Strategy in Gaza

3/27 — UN Expert Says Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza

3/20 — UN Staff In West Bank Subjected To 'Systematic Harassment' By Israel: Report

3/14 — 🇺🇳🇮🇱🇵🇸🚨‼️ Israeli army received the coordinates of UNRWA facilities yesterday and bombed them today!

3/9 — UNRWA Report Says Israel Coerced Some Agency Employees To Falsely Admit Hamas Links

3/8 — UN Human Rights Chief Deplores New Moves to Expand Israeli Settlements in Occupied West Bank

2/23 — US Intel Has "Low Confidence" in Israeli Claim That 12 UN Staff Participated in Hamas Attack

1/26 — UNRWA Sacks Staffers Who Allegedly Participated In Oct. 7 Attack; US Halts Funding [and Canada]

⬆️ Like Clockwork, Israel Drums Up UNRWA allegations After ICJ issue's verdict
1/26 — ICJ Ruling On Gaza Genocide Is A Historic Victory For The Palestinians That Israel Vows To Defy

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