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Raid at Qalandia
Israeli forces raided the Qalandia Vocational Training Institute, a UNRWA facility in the Kafr Aqab-Qalandia area north of Jerusalem, on Tuesday and detained and questioned staff members after entering with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
“entered the Qalandia Vocational Training Institute, detained and questioned staff members and raised an Israeli flag inside the compound”
Hamas condemned the raid as an escalation, saying Israeli forces “entered the Qalandia Vocational Training Institute, detained and questioned staff members and raised an Israeli flag inside the compound.”
UNRWA said the entry was “unauthorized and deeply concerning,” and it said Israeli forces forcibly entered the training center at around 10 a.m. Tuesday with at least four armored vehicles and more than 50 Israeli forces.
The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli municipal technical crews entered the institute and began “maintenance and renovation” work inside its buildings as the takeover continued into a second day.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the incident was the fifth unauthorized entry by Israeli authorities into the center since May, and he said the UN secretary-general condemned the actions in the strongest terms.
Ben-Gvir and UN pushback
Ben-Gvir participated in the raid and told reporters from the site that there was “no place for the agency in Jerusalem and Israel,” while Netanyahu said the evacuation began “In accordance with my directive and following the law we passed.”
The UN condemned the operation as an unauthorized entry and unlawful seizure, with Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov saying he “strongly condemn[s] the unauthorized entry and unlawful seizure by Israeli authorities of a United Nations facility operated by UNRWA in occupied East Jerusalem.”
Alakbarov warned that the seizure would immediately deprive 340 young Palestinian refugees from the West Bank of access to education, and he called on Israel to withdraw from the facility and restore its immunity.
In parallel, the Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli municipal technical crews had begun “maintenance and renovation” work preparing the site to receive Israeli students, and local outlet Wafa said soldiers raised the Israeli flag outside the facility.
Ynetnews described a diplomatic dispute around Ben-Gvir’s personal involvement, saying Netanyahu had asked him not to go before he arrived with security forces and a Channel 14 television crew.
What’s at stake next
The seizure and planned transformation of the Qalandia site into a municipal educational and community complex is tied to a broader dispute over UNRWA’s presence in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, with UNRWA warning that its closure would eliminate an important vocational institution for young Palestinians.
“More than NIS 40 million is being invested in the initial stage of the project”
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Foreign Ministry said more than NIS 40 million is being invested in the initial stage of the project, including a municipal boys’ high school scheduled to open next week at the start of the school year.
UNRWA said the center provides vocational training to approximately 350 young Palestinians, and it said the entry of armed forces into a UN facility without authorization or consent was “unacceptable.”
Al-Monitor said Israel’s takeover followed UNRWA warnings that Israeli authorities were threatening its Qalandia training centre, and it quoted Netanyahu’s office saying “The State of Israel will not allow an organisation whose employees were involved in terrorism and in the October 7 massacre to operate within its territory.”
Al-Monitor also said the raid drew condemnation from UN chief Antonio Guterres, and it reported that the secretary-general was “greatly alarmed” by Tuesday’s incursion and said the training centre and other UNRWA premises are “inviolable and immune from any form of interference.”