Story perspectives

Israeli forces evacuate UNRWA Qalandiya center, UN condemns

8/27/2026

Summary

Israel Seizes UNRWA

Israeli security forces seized and evacuated the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Qalandiya centre in East Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation followed his directive and complied with Israeli law passed October 2024.
The raid expelled staff and denied roughly 340 Palestinian refugees vocational training.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Acting UNRWA Commissioner-General Christian Saunders condemned the incursion as illegal.

Summary

Smotrich Expands Settlements

Analysts say the raid backs a plan for 9,000 settlement units near Qalandiya Airport.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich added a settler-run civilian body to the West Bank Civil Administration.
Institute for National Security Studies warned settler militias now possess ethnic-cleansing capability in the West Bank.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee labeled Qusra settlers terrorists after families raised a U.S. flag.

History

Historical Context

On 22 March 1979 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 446, voting 12-0 with Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States abstaining, and declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem illegal. Decades later Israel’s seizure of the UNRWA Qalandiya centre and a plan for 9,000 new settlement units revive the same legal dispute, underscoring persistent diplomatic deadlock.

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Israel Seizes UNRWA

Israeli security forces seized and evacuated the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Qalandiya centre in East Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation followed his directive and complied with Israeli law passed October 2024.
The raid expelled staff and denied roughly 340 Palestinian refugees vocational training.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Acting UNRWA Commissioner-General Christian Saunders condemned the incursion as illegal.

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