RAMALLAH, August 25, 2026 (WAFA) — Israeli forces raided Qalandiya refugee camp and the town of Kafr Aqab, north of occupied Jerusalem, on Tuesday, deploying heavily in the streets and neighborhoods and moving to evacuate a UNRWA facility in Kafr Aqab.
Local sources said Israeli forces carried out searches and raids across the camp and town and conducted field interrogations of several residents.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took part in the raid and said Israeli authorities had begun what he described as an “operation to evacuate the building,” claiming that “there is no place for the agency in Jerusalem and Israel.”
The sources added that Israeli forces detained 40 employees and others present at the Qalandiya Training Institute and subjected them to questioning,
The occupation forces also distributed notices to several homes and facilities near the apartheid wall in the Kafr Aqab area, coinciding with the tightening of military measures in the region.
In Kafr Aqab, Israeli forces evacuated the Qalandiya Vocational Training Center, run by UNRWA, and began demolishing its facilities. This move is part of ongoing measures targeting UNRWA facilities in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli media outlets had reported that Israeli forces would begin demolishing an UNRWA building in Jerusalem today.
The complex includes educational, vocational, and health facilities. UNRWA had previously warned of an Israeli plan targeting its facilities at the site, noting that implementing the plan would require demolishing most of the training center's facilities.
The raids on Qalandiya and Kafr Aqab coincide with the continuation of Israeli measures against the camp and its surroundings, following a large-scale military operation earlier this month that resulted in widespread damage, arrests, and the demolition of buildings and homes.
The measures are part of an escalating Israeli campaign against UNRWA and its facilities in occupied Jerusalem, amid ongoing efforts to restrict the agency’s activities and prevent it from operating, despite its UN mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.
Israeli authorities had previously approved a series of measures targeting UNRWA’s work, including preventing it from operating in the occupied territories and canceling the arrangements and privileges granted to it, in a move that sparked widespread Palestinian and international condemnation.
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