RAMALLAH, August 25, 2026 (WAFA) — In a new escalation targeting UNRWA in occupied Jerusalem, Israeli forces evacuated the Qalandia Vocational Training Institute, affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in Kafr Aqab, north of occupied Jerusalem.
They seized the institute's premises and raised the Israeli flag in its courtyard. This occurred just one day after a visit by 28 diplomatic missions to the center, during which they witnessed firsthand the violations and threats facing the facilities.
The raid on the institute was led by the extremist Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Following the raid, Ben-Gvir made statements that were widely interpreted as a denial of any UNRWA presence in Jerusalem and Israel. These statements represent a continuation of the systematic political incitement against the UN agency and an attempt to impose unilateral decisions against it.
Local sources reported that Israeli forces detained approximately 40 employees and others present at the institute, subjecting them to questioning before evacuating them from the facility. They subsequently began procedures to demolish parts of the compound.
Twenty-eight diplomatic missions accredited to the State of Palestine, accompanied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates and the Department of Refugee Affairs, visited the Qalandia Vocational Training Institute on Monday as part of a field tour to observe the occupation's crimes and violations. The tour also included the Qalandia Girls' School and several other targeted and damaged sites in the camp.
The Qalandia Camp Popular Committee stated that the occupation forces' raid on the institute today was a direct response to the diplomatic missions' visit. The committee noted that the missions had affirmed that UNRWA is a UN agency with immunity and that the institute provides vocational training to approximately 320 students from refugee camps in the West Bank.
Earlier today, occupation forces stormed the institute, simultaneously raiding Qalandia Camp and the town of Kafr Aqab. They deployed their forces and military vehicles in the streets and neighborhoods, conducting raids, searches, and field interrogations of a number of residents.
The evacuation and takeover of the institute comes as part of a series of ongoing Israeli measures against UNRWA facilities in occupied East Jerusalem. The Israeli Foreign Ministry justified the move by claiming that the site of the institute complex would be used to build a "community and educational center" for the residents of Kafr Aqab, with an investment of 40 million shekels.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry further claimed that the land on which the UNRWA complex stands has been owned by the Jewish National Fund since 1937.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities are using infrastructure projects as a pretext to seize land and undermine Palestinian and international institutions operating in occupied East Jerusalem, with the aim of consolidating their control over the city and altering its demographic and cultural character.
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