Guterres blasts Israeli seizure of UNRWA training center in Jerusalem

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres protests Israel’s takeover of an UNRWA training center in Jerusalem, which is slated to be converted into a school for local Arab students.

By World Israel News Staff

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned Israel’s takeover of a UNRWA vocational training center in northern Jerusalem, claiming that the move will deprive Palestinian students of educational opportunities as Israeli authorities move to replace the facility with a municipal education and community complex.

Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said Tuesday that the UN chief was “greatly alarmed at this development,” arguing that the action would prevent young Palestinians from receiving the vocational training previously provided at the site.

Dujarric also rejected Israel’s authority to take control of the facility, claiming that the Kalandia Training Centre and other UNRWA facilities are United Nations premises and are therefore protected from outside interference.

The condemnation came after Israeli police, the IDF and Jerusalem municipal authorities entered the UNRWA compound in Kafr Aqab on Tuesday and began transferring control of the site as part of Israel’s implementation of legislation barring the UN agency from operating inside Israeli territory.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the compound as the operation was underway and welcomed the move.

“An organization whose employees were involved in terrorism and that repeatedly served as a cover for Hamas has no right to exist for even one more second,” Ben-Gvir said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was carried out under his directive and followed legislation previously approved by the Knesset.

“The State of Israel will not allow an organization whose employees were complicit in terrorism and the October 7 massacre to operate within its territory,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel would act against UNRWA using the means available to it.

The Knesset passed two laws targeting UNRWA in October 2024. One prohibits the agency from operating or providing services within territory Israel considers sovereign, while another bars Israeli government agencies and officials from maintaining contact with UNRWA. The measures took effect in January 2025.

Israel has accused UNRWA of extensive links to Hamas and has pointed in particular to evidence that some of the agency’s employees participated in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 massacre. UNRWA has said it has taken action against employees where evidence of wrongdoing was presented while rejecting Israeli allegations that the agency as a whole is tied to Hamas.

Tuesday’s operation centered on the Kalandia Training Centre, located in Kafr Aqab on the Jerusalem side of the municipal boundary but beyond the security barrier, adjacent to the West Bank.

The Jerusalem Municipality is now moving ahead with plans to transform the property into a large education and community complex intended to serve Arab residents of the neighborhood.

More than NIS 40 million is being invested in the initial phase of the project, according to the Foreign Ministry. A new municipal high school for boys is scheduled to open at the site with the beginning of the school year, while later stages are expected to include additional schools, sports facilities, healthcare and community services, and a mosque.

Israeli officials note that the property has belonged to the Jewish National Fund since 1937 and was subsequently allocated for municipal use, arguing that UNRWA does not hold property rights to the site.

The Jordanian government seized the property after it occupied the area during Israel’s War of Independence and offered it to UNRWA in 1952. UNRWA contends that the agreement with Jordan remains valid.