Israel to seize UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem, convert it into apartments

With the Knesset on the verge of banning UNRWA’s operations in Israel, government seizes UN agency’s headquarters in Jerusalem, prepares to repurpose complex to serve as housing units.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israeli government is poised to seize a Jerusalem complex used for decades as the headquarters of a United Nations agency now accused of employing terrorists who took part in the October 7th atrocities in southwestern Israel.

Last week, the Israel Land Authority (ILA), revealed on its website that it is planning to expropriate the Jerusalem headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), located near the Ma’alot Dafna neighborhood, straddling the pre-1967 boundary which divided Jerusalem between east and west from 1949 to 1967.

According to the ILA’s website, the complex will be repurposed into housing units, with 1,440 apartments to be built on the property.

UNRWA’s Jerusalem headquarters have been the target of demonstrations protesting the agency’s activities, particularly after the revelations of links between UNRWA and Gaza terror groups including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

IDF Maj. Shay Rosengarten, chairman of the Im Tirtzu activist group which lobbied for the banning of UNRWA in Israel, said: “Congratulations to ILA for the quick action.”

“The UNRWA employees who were involved in the October 7th massacre must be punished in the most severe manner, the rest deported. A commemorative museum for the terrible Simchat Torah massacre should be established in the new complex. We thank our thousands of activists who demanded the removal of UNRWA from Jerusalem!”

Last week, the Knesset approved the first reading of a bill which, if passed, would severely curtail UNRWA’s ability to operate in Israel.

The law is expected to go up for its final votes at the opening of the Knesset’s winter session.

Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, warned against final passage of the bill.

“Legislation to end our operations is ready for final adoption by the Israeli Knesset. It seeks to ban UNRWA’s presence and operations in the territory of Israel, revoking its privileges and immunities, in violation of international law. If the bills are adopted, the consequences will be severe.”

“Operationally, the entire humanitarian response in Gaza – which rests on UNRWA’s infrastructure – may disintegrate”