Israel to UNRWA: Shut down and leave Jerusalem by Jan. 30

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini claimed that UNRWA was planning to “stay and deliver” services in Palestinian enclaves.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel confirmed to the United Nations last week that the UNRWA organization is required to halt its activities in Jerusalem and vacate its offices by Thursday, January 30th.

“UNRWA is required to cease its operations in Jerusalem and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city no later” than the January 30th deadline, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, wrote to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres last Friday.

New laws recently passed by the Knesset have barred UNRWA from operating in Israel, as well as severely restricting their capabilities to operate in Palestinian Authority-controlled territory in Judea and Samaria, along with the Gaza Strip.

Earlier in January, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini claimed that UNRWA was planning to “stay and deliver” services in Palestinian enclaves.

Lazzarini admitted that because UNRWA has “no bureaucratic or operational relations” with Israel, the organization’s continued functioning is a challenge.

While there has been ample evidence provided by Israel regarding UNRWA employees’ ties to Hamas, its leadership has long downplayed the phenomenon.

Dozens of UNRWA employees took part in the October 7th massacres, including kidnapping Israelis.

One video from a kibbutz security camera shows gunmen fatally shooting Israeli civilians, then loading a body into an official UN vehicle.

Israeli intelligence estimates that more than 10 percent of UNRWA employees in the Strip are affiliated with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terror groups.

“The U.N. has been unable and or unwilling to eliminate Hamas militants and their supporters, as well as those from other terrorist groups, from their ranks,” James Lindsay, who served as UNRWA’s general counsel until 2007, told the New York Times in December 2024.

“UNRWA hiring practices and the makeup of the labor pool from which UNRWA draws its employees suggests to me that the numbers the Israelis are talking about are probably pretty close to the truth.”