JERUSALEM, May 17 (Reuters) — Israeli leadership on Sunday gave approval for constructing a military facility where the demolished United Nations Relief and Works Agency building previously operated in East Jerusalem.
Earlier this year in January, Israeli forces tore down buildings within the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency’s East Jerusalem location after taking control of the property in the previous year, prompting the agency to denounce the action as breaking international law.
According to a combined announcement from the Defence Ministry and Jerusalem Municipality, the planned facility will feature a military museum, recruitment center, and an office for the defence minister.
Defence Minister Israel Katz described the move as representing “sovereignty, Zionism, and security.”
The refugee agency, which Israeli officials claim shows bias, had stopped using the facility at the beginning of last year following Israel’s directive to abandon all its locations and halt operations.
When asked about the Israeli proposal, a spokesperson for the refugee agency refused to provide comment.
The organization functions in East Jerusalem, an area that the United Nations and most nations view as Israeli-occupied territory following its capture from Jordan during the 1967 Middle East conflict. Israel maintains that all of Jerusalem represents its unified capital city.
The agency also provides services in Gaza, the West Bank and other Middle Eastern regions, delivering education, medical care, social programs and housing to millions of Palestinians.
Katz stated: “There is nothing more symbolic or justified than establishing the new IDF recruitment office and defence establishment institutions precisely on the ruins of the former UNRWA compound — an organization whose employees took part in the massacres, murders, and atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.”
Israeli officials have claimed that certain agency personnel belonged to the Palestinian militant organization Hamas and participated in the October 7, 2023, assault on Israel that resulted in approximately 1,200 Israeli deaths and triggered Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, during which Gaza officials report over 71,000 Palestinian fatalities.
The agency has dismissed multiple employees but stated that Israel failed to supply proof for all accusations against its workers, with its former leader, Philippe Lazzarini, claiming Israel was running “a large-scale disinformation campaign” targeting the organization.
