Israel orders UN agency in east Jerusalem to close
Israel has given the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) 30 days to vacate its headquarters in east Jerusalem, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.
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The eviction order was issued by the Israel Land Authority (ILA) after a lawsuit filed by ultra-Orthodox Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf was approved, The Times of Israel reported. In a letter sent Tuesday, the ILA told UNRWA that it owes over NIS 27 million (around $7 million) for operating on Israeli state land “without consent for the past seven years.” UNRWA must “immediately cease any illegal use, demolish anything built in violation of the law, vacate the land of any person or object and return it to the ILA within 30 days from the date of this letter.” “In the event of non-compliance, the ILA reserves the right to act by all legal means and at your expense. No further notice will be given,” the letter added, according to the Spanish news agency EFE. According to Israeli media, the ILA had turned a blind eye for years to UNRWA’s violation of the terms of its lease on the land. That changed after the war in Gaza and Israel’s accusation that several of the UN agency’s employees were involved in the October 7 bombing. Goldknopf, who heads the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, has accused UNRWA of “serving Hamas and even taking part in the murderous October 7 massacre” that sparked the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Since the war in Gaza, UNRWA has been in Israel’s crosshairs, with the country accusing a dozen of the agency’s employees of involvement in Hamas attacks on October 7. Israel has alleged that over 200 of the agency’s employees have links to the Islamist Hamas, and has made no secret of its desire to see UNRWA shut down. The allegations prompted several donor countries to cut funding to UNRWA in January, though most have since resumed their support in the absence of conclusive proof from Israel. In recent weeks, extremist Israelis have repeatedly vandalized UNRWA’s headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem, forcing the agency to temporarily close the facility. The Israeli parliament on Wednesday approved a bill that would declare UNRWA a “terrorist group,” but local media reported that the government is expected to shelve the legislation. Created in 1949 in the wake of the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948, the agency employs some 30,000 people across the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. At the time of its creation, it served some 750,000 people, but that number now stands at 5.9 million Palestinians, according to figures on the organization’s website. Read Also: Israeli parliament approves bill declaring UNRWA a terrorist organization (in Portuguese)
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