Demolition of UNRWA headquarters.. Targeting UN immunity in Jerusalem

Adnan Abu Hasna: Israel is working to end UNRWA's presence in Jerusalem and is placing obstacles to its work in the West Bank and Gaza

Dr. Riyad Al-Aila: Demolishing and seizing UNRWA headquarters is a direct assault on the UN's mandate and the system of legal protection

Mazen Al-Jaabari: Targeting UNRWA in Jerusalem is a practical announcement of the demise of international legitimacy and a shocking message to all who bet on its effectiveness

Dr. Talal Abu Afifa: What happened under Ben Gvir's supervision is an assault on the United Nations and international law that requires action to prevent the continuation of the crime

Osama Al-Sharif: It is not surprising that a UN headquarters was demolished coinciding with Trump's attempt to seize Greenland and replace the global system with a council he personally leads

Fadl Tahboub: Israeli policy is based on trying to end the camps, as happened through the displacement of their residents in the northern West Bank and continued targeting

Exclusive to "Al-Quds" - The demolition of the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem last week, by Israeli occupation forces and with the presence and supervision of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, was nothing but a step with deep political and legal dimensions, opening a wide door to serious repercussions affecting the immunity and status of the United Nations and its role in the occupied Palestinian territories. 

Officials, writers, and political analysts, in an interview with "Al-Quds", believe that the scene that accompanied the bulldozers was not limited to removing buildings, but rather touched the essence of UN immunity, and sent a direct message challenging the international law system in one of the most sensitive issues.

According to officials and writers, this demolition comes within a gradual context of measures aimed at undermining UNRWA's presence in East Jerusalem, including closing schools and clinics, cutting off basic services, preventing the access of humanitarian aid, and restricting the movement of international staff. These steps, according to officials and writers, indicate a clear endeavor to empty the Holy City of any UN presence that reminds of the legal status of the occupation and the issue of Palestinian refugees, and to turn the humanitarian dimension into a tool of political pressure affecting the lives of thousands of families.

As for the broader goals, they indicate that targeting UNRWA headquarters goes beyond the agency itself, to fall within the framework of an attempt to erase the refugee file from the political scene, by striking the most prominent international witness to the right of return.

In light of the international community's contentment with statements of concern and condemnation, officials and writers believe that fears are escalating that this step will become a precedent that legitimizes the violation of international immunity, and puts what remains of the prestige of the international system to a decisive test between the logic of force and the force of law.

A dangerous precedent

Adnan Abu Hasna, media advisor to UNRWA, confirms that what happened to the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is a dangerous precedent that has never occurred before in the relationship between the United Nations system and a member state such as Israel. 

Abu Hasna stresses that Israel has absolutely no right to carry out this cruel and illegal act against any UN facility or organization.

Abu Hasna explains that UNRWA obtained this headquarters from the Jordanian government in 1952, and it is considered one of the most immune UN sites in the Middle East, equivalent in its immunity to the UN building in New York or Geneva.

Encouraging violent groups to repeat the event

Abu Hasna points out that a minister in the Israeli government accompanying bulldozers to demolish a UN headquarters is an extremely dangerous step, and may set a precedent that encourages violent groups or other countries to violate diplomatic norms, including lowering national flags or forcibly raising host country flags.

The media advisor to UNRWA explains that this development represents a major and serious violation of international law, and was preceded by many measures and violations, such as the closure of six UNRWA schools, the closure of health clinics, and the planning to establish a settlement on the site of UNRWA's headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah or in the Qalandia Vocational Training Center, in addition to cutting off water and electricity.

Actual pursuit to end UNRWA's existence

Abu Hasna points out that Israel is practically working to end UNRWA's presence in East Jerusalem in grave violation of international humanitarian law, and is also placing obstacles to the agency's work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including preventing international staff from entering Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, and canceling permits for staff in the West Bank and preventing them from accessing Jerusalem.

Abu Hasna refers to the prevention of thousands of trucks carrying food, medicine and urgent shelter supplies from entering the Gaza Strip since last March until now, in a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

Need for intervention to stop the undermining of international law

Abu Hasna confirms that these measures have met with widespread international condemnation, but what is required of the international community now is to intervene to stop the undermining of international law and the destruction of the principles and values of the United Nations and its charters, especially since any state that joins the United Nations must sign its charter which guarantees the protection of its facilities and personnel and ensures their immunity, while Israel disregards all of this.

Abu Hasna points out that what is surprising is the unpunished passage of statements by the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, in which he openly called for the killing of UNRWA employees, which has never happened before.

An attempt to erase the witness to the refugee issue

Political analyst Dr. Riyad Ali Al-Aila confirms that the targeting of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem is no longer a fleeting event or an administrative measure that can be justified by flimsy legal pretexts, but has become an exposed link in a long series of Israeli occupation government policies aimed at dismantling the international presence in the Holy City, and erasing one of the most important UN witnesses to the issue of Palestinian refugees and the right of return to their homes that were usurped in 1948.

Al-Aila believes that the demolition or seizure of UNRWA headquarters does not only mean the closure of concrete buildings, but represents a direct assault on the mandate of the United Nations itself, and on the system of legal protection that is supposed to govern the behavior of states, especially in territories under occupation. 

Al-Aila points out that when UN facilities are bulldozed by the occupation, the message is clear: there is no immunity for international law, and no weight for UN institutions when they conflict with projects to impose a fait accompli by force.

Redefining Jerusalem politically and legally

Al-Aila believes that what is more dangerous is that this targeting is taking place in East Jerusalem, the city occupied since 1967, which is an integral part of the Palestinian state's territories according to international legitimacy resolutions, not an open arena for settling scores with an international organization.

Al-Aila points out that undermining UNRWA's work in Jerusalem is nothing but an exposed attempt to redefine the city politically and legally, by canceling any UN presence that reminds that Palestinian refugees have rights that cannot be demolished or confiscated.

Humanitarian need as a tool of political pressure

Al-Aila believes that the humanitarian repercussions of these steps lead to the disruption of education, health, and relief services, which pushes thousands of Palestinian families towards more poverty and fragility, and turns humanitarian need into a tool of political pressure, which exposes the falsity of claims that these measures are purely administrative, while in essence they are collective punishment, and an end to the refugee issue. 

Al-Aila stresses that the war of extermination still being waged by the occupation state by destroying and erasing refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, is wrapped in legal language, but this behavior practiced by the occupation puts the international community to a real test. 

Silence is a green light for more aggression

Al-Aila explains that silence or merely issuing statements of concern does not rise to the level of the violation, but rather gives a green light for more aggression against international institutions. 

Al-Aila asks: If a UN headquarters can be demolished in broad daylight without accountability, what remains of the prestige of the current international system?

Al-Aila points out that what is happening to UNRWA in Jerusalem is not just targeting an international agency, but an attempt to remove the refugee file from the political table, by striking the international witness before settling the issue itself. 

Al-Aila believes that defending UNRWA today is defending international law, and what remains of the idea of justice in a global system that is, alarmingly, leaning towards the logic of force rather than the force of law.

Al-Aila confirms that the demolition of UNRWA headquarters is not the end of a story, but an early warning of the collapse of red lines. Either the international community acts to protect its institutions and decisions, or it practically acknowledges that Jerusalem is governed by the law of the bulldozer, not by the scales of justice.

Striking the foundations of the international system

Jerusalemite writer Mazen Al-Jaabari believes that what the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem witnessed, from the storming of the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and the beginning of the demolition of its buildings and the confiscation of its lands in favor of what is called the "Israel Land Authority", and the raising of the Israeli flag over its ruins, cannot be considered a fleeting field aggression, but rather represents a practical announcement of the demise of what is known as "international legitimacy", and a shocking message to all who bet on the effectiveness of its system.

Al-Jaabari confirms that the statements of Aryeh King, the deputy mayor of the occupation and the godfather of settlement, in which he described a UN organization as a "Nazi enemy" and openly incited the liquidation of its employees, reveal that the targeting does not only affect administrative headquarters, but strikes the legal and political foundations upon which the international system was built since the partition resolution in 1947, stressing that this scene exposes the reality of the global system governed by the balance of power, not the rules of law.

Writer Al-Jaabari points out that attempts to liquidate UNRWA are based on the illusion that ending the agency's work means erasing the issue of Palestinian refugees.

Al-Jaabari explains that the agency is merely a political witness and a relief tool, while the right of return remains an existential and inherent right that does not derive its legitimacy from international funding or recognition, and does not fall with the demise of international institutions that have proven to operate within the margins imposed by dominant powers.

Ending the agency's role

Jerusalemite writer Dr. Talal Abu Afifa confirms that Israeli policy under the far-right government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, Itamar Ben Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich, with the support of US President Donald Trump, is working to end the role of the international relief agency, which was established after the 1948 Nakba by an international resolution to help Palestinian refugees who were forced to leave their cities, villages, and lands and were scattered in most parts of the world, the majority of whom initially settled in tents, and then camps were built for them in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with international funding.

Abu Afifa points out that what happened a few days ago, when Israeli bulldozers, under the supervision of the extremist Ben Gvir, demolished facilities in the UNRWA building in Jerusalem, which is the agency's headquarters in the West Bank, is a criminal act and a blatant assault on the United Nations and international law, requiring the international community, especially those who contributed to the establishment of the United Nations in 1945 and those who decided to establish UNRWA in 1950 thereafter, to act to prevent the continuation of this international crime.

Abu Afifa says: "We know, and the international community knows, that the Israeli plan against the international relief agency and its main headquarters in Jerusalem aims primarily to end the status of the Palestinian refugee who was displaced in 1948 and 1967, and to end the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and at the same time to end the role of the United Nations in caring for and supporting Palestinian refugees, especially since the Israeli occupation closed all schools supervised by the international relief agency in Jerusalem, especially in Shuafat refugee camp."

The important UN action

Abu Afifa believes that the Arab and Islamic worlds first, and the international world second, are required to act seriously against Israeli plans to end UNRWA's role in caring for and assisting Palestinian refugees, until the Palestinian issue is justly resolved, based on Resolution 194 issued by the United Nations in 1949, otherwise this plan will continue indefinitely, not only ending UNRWA's role in Palestine, but ending the role of the United Nations and its affiliated institutions worldwide, which is also what the Trump administration is working on by marginalizing and weakening the United Nations.

The synchronicity between what happened and Trump's plans

Jordanian analyst Osama Al-Sharif explains that, at a striking time, the storming of the UNRWA building in East Jerusalem and the demolition of parts of it coincided with an unprecedented escalation of transatlantic tension.

Al-Sharif points out that US President Donald Trump threatened to seize Greenland, downplayed the importance of NATO, and mocked the role of the United Nations, thereby turning his back on international law and the entire global system.

Al-Sharif confirms that this synchronicity reveals a striking similarity between the Trump administration and the far-right government in Israel. 

Al-Sharif explains that Israel has always acted as a rogue state, and Netanyahu has not stopped belittling the United Nations and international legitimacy resolutions, even accusing the General Assembly of anti-Semitism merely for standing by Palestinian rights and respecting international law.

Al-Sharif says: "It is not surprising that Israel would demolish a UN headquarters in a clear violation of international law and bilateral agreements, while Trump tries to seize Greenland and seeks to replace the global system and the United Nations with an international council he personally leads."

Jordanian analyst Al-Sharif believes that Trump, by turning his back on international law, provides full cover for Israel, noting that if Israel has long been a rogue state, the world today is witnessing America itself turning into a rogue state through the arrogance of its president and his policies.

Attempt to get rid of the refugee issue

Political analyst Fadl Tahboub confirms that the attack on UNRWA is an attack on international law, pointing out that the policy pursued by Israel is based on attacking and trying to eliminate the camps, as it has displaced large numbers of camp residents in the northern West Bank, and this policy is still ongoing.

Tahboub explains that targeting UNRWA as an international institution comes in the context of Israel's attempt to get rid of the refugee issue and the international institution that cares for them, questioning the impact of these measures and their repercussions on the refugees themselves.

Tahboub confirms that refugees suffer greatly, as UNRWA used to provide them with health, educational, and sometimes food services, pointing out that these measures will greatly affect them, and will also reflect on the conditions of refugees in other host countries such as Lebanon and Syria.

Tahboub explains that UNRWA operates in multiple places around the world, and despite about 150 countries emphasizing the necessity of the agency's continued work, Israel does not adhere to international law or international humanitarian law, and pays no attention to them.