RAMALLAH, June 11, 2026 (WAFA) – The Jerusalem Governorate warned against the Israeli municipality's plan to establish what it calls a new "educational complex" in the Kafr Aqab neighborhood, north of occupied Jerusalem, on land that has long housed a vocational training college operated by UNRWA.
In a statement, the governorate affirmed that the governorate said the project represents another step in efforts to undermine the work of the UN agency in occupied Jerusalem under the guise of educational and public-service initiatives.
According to the statement, the proposed plan (No. 1421205) covers approximately 82 dunums and is presented as a response to the shortage of classrooms and educational facilities in Kafr Aqab. However, the governorate argues that its practical outcome would be the removal of UNRWA’s Vocational Training College and the termination of its activities at the site.
It warned that the danger of the plan lies not only in its planning nature but also in its targeting of an existing UN institution that plays a vital educational and vocational role for Palestinian refugees.
It warned that replacing UNRWA facilities with institutions operating under Israeli authority would weaken the agency’s presence and role in Jerusalem.
It emphasized that practical experience over the past years proves that the occupation has consistently used the basic needs of Palestinian citizens, especially education, as a tool to justify its control over Palestinian lands and properties.
Several projects promoted as solutions to educational crises in occupied Jerusalem have been used as a pretext for demolition, eviction, or confiscation, while the implementation of these projects has remained stalled or postponed for many years.
In this context, the governorate pointed out that the educational complex project in Jabal al-Mukabber, approved in 2017, saw no real progress until eight years after its approval, and the majority of it remains unimplemented to this day. The statement also highlighted the case of the Salehieh family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, who were forcibly evicted from their home and commercial nursery in 2022 under the pretext of establishing educational institutions, even though construction has yet to begin.
A similar situation exists in the town of Anata, where a school project for Palestinian students was approved years ago, but no building permit has been issued and no construction work has commenced.
The statement emphasized that the occupation, which bears direct responsibility for the chronic education crisis in Palestinian neighborhoods as a result of decades of discrimination and deliberate neglect, is now attempting to exploit this very crisis to justify land confiscation, property seizure, and the undermining of institutions that provide vital services to Palestinians, instead of addressing the root causes of the existing deficit.
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