Israel occupies East Jerusalem UNRWA centre for a second day
Soldiers raised the Israeli flag outside a vocational training facility for Palestinian teenagers after evacuating staff.
Israeli forces have continued to occupy an UNRWA centre in East Jerusalem for a second day, with local outlet Wafa reporting that soldiers raised the Israeli flag outside the facility.
The site is a vocational training centre serving Palestinian teenagers. Dozens of staff were evacuated when forces entered, and UNRWA has condemned the takeover as a breach of international law.
The legal question turns on the status of United Nations premises. Under the conventions governing the privileges and immunities of the organisation, its facilities are inviolable, and entry by national authorities without the agency's consent constitutes a violation regardless of the justification offered. Raising a national flag over such premises carries an additional significance, since it asserts jurisdiction over a site the UN treats as outside it.
Israeli forces have continued to occupy an UNRWA centre in East Jerusalem for a second day, with local outlet Wafa reporting that soldiers raised the Israeli flag outside the facility.
The practical effect falls on the students. Vocational training programmes run on fixed cycles, and an interruption partway through does not simply pause instruction: it can invalidate an entire year for those enrolled, in a labour market where a completed certificate is what distinguishes a candidate.
UNRWA functions as the substitute for state provision for registered Palestine refugees across education, health and relief. Qatar condemned the operation as a violation of international law that threatens vital refugee services, and the France-Saudi joint statement issued in Paris this week rejected Israeli settlement policy and settler violence.
Based on reporting by Middle East Eye.
