UNRWA: Israel’s demand to vacate our buildings in Jerusalem is a contradiction of UN immunities

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Sunday, that Israel is violating the General Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

In a statement on Sunday, issued in response to Israel’s decision to stop the Agency’s activities in Occupied Jerusalem and its demand to vacate all buildings it occupies by the end of this month, UNRWA said that this decision “This order is in contradiction to international law obligations of UN member states including the State of Israel, which is bound by the General Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.”

UNRWA added that “United Nations premises are inviolable and enjoy privileges and immunities under the United Nations Charter.”

It pointed out that Israel is a signatory state – without reservations – to the General Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, and has enacted its provisions in its domestic law, adding that “These provisions oblige the State of Israel to respect United Nations privileges and immunities, including respect for United Nations premises.”

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“UNRWA property and assets including in East Jerusalem are immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation, and any other form of interference,” it stated, noting that “Claims from the Israeli authorities that UNRWA has no right to occupy the premises are without foundation.”

The statement also said that these claims “promote anti-UNRWA rhetoric, placing the Agency’s facilities and personnel at risk. The Government of Israel has stated publicly that the aim to vacate UNRWA premises in Sheikh Jarrah is to expand Israeli illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.”

UNRWA stated that “The State of Israel must take all appropriate measures consistent with international law obligations to ensure that UNRWA’s property and installations are respected and protected.”

On Friday, Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, set a deadline for UNRWA to cease its activities in the city of Jerusalem and evacuate all buildings it occupies by the end of this month.

The fierce Israeli campaign against UNRWA escalated after 7 October, 2023, claiming that UNRWA employees participated in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood carried out by the Palestinian Resistance on the Gaza Strip envelope. The Occupation also claimed that the Resistance was using the Agency’s facilities for military purposes.

Israel has repeatedly equated UNRWA staff with Hamas members in efforts to discredit them, providing no proof of the claims, while lobbying hard to have UNRWA closed as it is the only UN agency to have a specific mandate to look after the basic needs of Palestinian refugees. If the agency no longer exists, argues Israel, then the refugee issue must no longer exist, and the legitimate right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land will be unnecessary. Israel has denied that right of return since the late 1940s, even though its own membership of the UN was made conditional upon Palestinian refugees being allowed to return to their homes and land.

The UN denied the Israeli allegations, noting that Israel had not provided sufficient evidence of this, and despite international pressure on Israel and increasing demands not to disrupt UNRWA’s role, there are still concerns about the impact of these policies on the deteriorating humanitarian situation, especially in light of the decline in international funding for aid for the Palestinians.

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