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Presidency strongly rejects and condemns any projects or plans aimed at displacing Palestinian people from Gaza | US Senator Bernie Sanders condemns Trump's Gaza remarks as a war crime and ethnic cleansing | EU voices concern over Israeli escalating violence in West Bank | From Caves to Conflict: Masafer Yatta Residents Face Rising Settler and Military Pressure | UN chief calls for immediate evacuation of 2,500 children from Gaza for medical treatment | Trade Unions Demand Independent Inquiry into Police Handling of Pro-Palestine Protest | EU Border Mission Redeploys to Rafah Crossing to Support Ceasefire Implementation | West Bank on the Brink: International Silence Amid Worsening Israeli Aggression, Al-Ahram Weekly Report Say | Palestinian youth killed, others injured by Israeli gunfire during raid on refugee camp north of Hebron | El-Sisi and Abdullah II stress importance of implementing ceasefire agreement, accelerating Gaza reconstruction | Over 160 NGOs and trade unions call on EU to ban trade with Israeli colonies | Palestinian UN Envoy Urges Respect for Gaza Residents' Right to Stay | Palestinian Striker Oday Dabbagh Joins Aberdeen FC on Loan" | Mass Displacement and Widespread Destruction as Israeli Raids Escalate in Nur Shams and Al-Far’a Camps | Rights Groups: Gaza Prisoners Held in Secret Camps, Subjected to Torture and Deprivation | Bethlehem Activists Launch Winter Aid Campaign for Displaced Palestinians in Northern West Bank | Israeli Journalists and Analysts: Netanyahu and Trump’s Decision-Making in Disarray | Palestinian Disability Coalition Launches Media Campaign Highlighting War Crimes Against Persons with Disabilities | Overcoming Hardship: West Bank Farmer Creates Jobs Through Strawberry Farming | PLO Official Urges UNRWA to Take Responsibility for Displaced Refugees in the West Bank |  

Outrageous arson attack forces UNRWA to temporarily close its headquarters in Jerusalem

Posted On: 10-05-2024 | International
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Jerusalem/PNN /

The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has decided to temporarily close the Agency's headquarters in occupied Jerusalem after an arson attack by extremist Israeli colonists in the vicinity of the premises following weeks of protests.

Posting on social media, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said “Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter” on Thursday evening.  UNRWA personnel and staff from other UN agencies were inside the compound at the time.

"Our director with the help of other staff had to put out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up," he said.

This marked “the second appalling incident in less than a week” following a similar violent protest on Tuesday.

While there were no casualties among UNRWA staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas, he said, noting that a petrol and diesel station is on the grounds to service the agency’s fleet of cars.

A crowd accompanied by armed Israeli colonists were witnessed outside the compound chanting “burn down the United Nations,” he added.

“This is an outrageous development,” he said. “Once again, the lives of UN staff were at serious risk.”  

Lazzarini said he has taken the decision to close down the compound “until proper security is restored”. 

Israeli extremists have been staging protests outside the UNRWA compound in Jerusalem over the past two months “called by an elected member of the Jerusalem municipality.”

He noted that Tuesday’s protest had turned violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and at the buildings, “under the watch of the Israeli police.”

“Over the past months, UN staff have regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation. Our compound has been seriously vandalized and damaged. On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns,” he said.

The UNRWA chief stressed that it is the responsibility of Israel as the occupying power to ensure that UN personnel and facilities are protected at all times. 

“I call on all those who have influence to put an end to these attacks and hold all those responsible accountable,” he said.  “The perpetrators of these attacks must be investigated and those responsible must be held accountable. Anything less will set a new dangerous standard.”



 

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