NEW YORK, February 18, 2025 (WAFA) - UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, condemned the storming of the UNRWA Kalandia Training Centre by Israeli forces and staff from the West Jerusalem Municipality, as well as the closure of UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem, calling such actions a violation of the basic right to education and United Nations privileges and immunities.

“Today, Israeli forces and personnel from the Jerusalem Municipality forcefully entered the UNRWA Kalandia Training Centre and ordered its immediate evacuation,” Lazzarini stated in a post on X. “At least 350 students and 30 staff members were present and affected. Tear gas and sound bombs were fired.”

Additionally, this morning, Israeli police officers, accompanied by staff from the Jerusalem Municipality, went to UNRWA schools and ordered their closure, he added.

“Today’s incidents have affected 250 children in three UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem and 350 trainees at the Kalandia Training Centre, a large United Nations compound,” he said.

He concluded by emphasizing that children's access to education must be preserved and that United Nations facilities must be protected and respected at all times, wherever they are.

T.R.