RAMALLAH, January 20, 2026 (WAFA) - Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director in the West Bank, said the deplorable scenes of UN buildings being raised to the ground by Israeli bulldozers are a capstone to mounting hostility and attacks on UNRWA in the occupied Palestinian Territory over the past two years.
He added in a post on X, “They follow amendments in December 2025 to the hostile Israeli anti-UNRWA legislation to further tighten the noose on the UN’s presence in East Jerusalem. Today’s actions surpass even the provisions of those illegal laws.”
He said: “A dark day for the UN draws to a close in East Jerusalem. This morning at dawn, armed Israeli security forces arrived at UNRWA’s compound in Sheikh Jarrah. Bulldozers forcibly entered the compound shortly thereafter, immediately starting to demolish buildings inside the compound. Our offices and warehouses have been built and maintained through decades of donor support, and have served Palestine refugees across the occupied Palestinian territory for more than seventy years.”
He added, “In an act of endorsement at the highest levels, the Israeli Minister of National Security, the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, and at least two members of the Israeli Knesset joined to relish in the destruction of humanitarian infrastructure.”
He noted that over the years, “I have watched Israeli authorities routinely deploy demolitions of Palestinian property and homes in the West Bank with impunity, to enact changes on the ground outside of the bounds of international law. Today’s actions are unprecedented, wherein recognized UN premises are being demolished contrary to the basic obligations that govern all UN member states.”
He stressed that in October 2025, the CIJ_ICJ explicitly stated that Israel must refrain from undertaking any executive, administrative, judicial or legislative actions against the property and assets of the UN in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“Today’s actions are an open display of Israel’s disregard for international law, that has gone undeterred for too long. They also mark a fatal blow to multilateralism, with a ripple effect for peace and security at a global scale.”
T.R.
