Israeli crews have started bulldozing the Jerusalem headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem and fired teargas at a UN vocational school in Qalandia, in the West Bank.

Israel accuses the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unwra) of collaborating with Hamas – a charge the agency denies – and last year banned it from operating on its territory. The demolition marks Israel’s latest step against Unrwa, which provides aid to millions of Palestinian refugees.

Roland Friedrich, Unrwa’s director in the West Bank, said the agency had been informed that demolition crews accompanied by police arrived at its East Jerusalem headquarters in the early hours of the morning. The facility had been largely unused for nearly a year because of security threats and incitement, he said, but Israeli forces nonetheless entered the compound, confiscated equipment and expelled the private security guards hired to protect the site.

An Israeli flag was seen hoisted above the facility in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, where some Israeli politicians arrived on the scene to celebrate the organisation’s fate. Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, called it “a historic day”.

Israel defended the move to demolish the compound, with the foreign ministry saying: “Unrwa-Hamas had already ceased its operations at this site and no longer had any UN personnel or UN activity there.”

‘The compound does not enjoy any immunity,’ Israel said. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters

It added: “The compound does not enjoy any immunity and the seizure of this compound by Israeli authorities was carried out in accordance with both Israeli and international law.”

But Friedrich called it a violation of international law guaranteeing such facilities protection and said: “What we saw today is the culmination of two years of incitement and measures against Unrwa in East Jerusalem.”

Founded in 1949, Unrwa’s mandate is to provide aid and services to 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. The group has for years maintained infrastructure in refugee camps, run schools and provided healthcare.

A few months after the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, Israeli settlers and rightwing activists protested by blocking the entrances of the Unrwa office in Jerusalem and calling for the body’s closure, following accusations by the government of collaborating with Hamas in Gaza, and with its staff facing a systematic campaign of obstruction and harassment by the Israeli military and authorities.

In 2024, according to the Wall Street Journal, a US intelligence report assessed with “low confidence” that a handful of Unrwa staff had participated in the attack, but indicated that it could not independently confirm the assessment’s veracity.

Nevertheless, Unrwa’s operations were curtailed last year when Israel’s Knesset passed legislation severing ties and banning it from functioning in what it defines as Israel – including East Jerusalem.

Unrwa has recorded 382 colleagues killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since the start of the conflict.

‘This must be a wake-up call,’ said Philippe Lazzarini, Unwra’s comissioner general, warning this could happen to other international organisations or missions. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters

The acts of sabotage against Unrwa ultimately culminated in the demolition on Tuesday. Videos showed Israeli bulldozers destroying the compound and the facilities inside the agency’s headquarters.

“This comes in the wake of other steps taken by Israeli authorities to erase the Palestine refugee identity,” Philippe Lazzarini, Unrwa’s commissioner general, said in a statement on X. “This must be a wake-up call. What happens today to Unrwa will happen tomorrow to any other international organisation or diplomatic mission, whether in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or anywhere around the world.”

The latest action comes amid a long-running political and financial campaign against the agency. The US cut funding to Unrwa in 2018 under Donald Trump, restored it in 2021 under Joe Biden, and then paused contributions again in 2024.

Israel’s ban on Unrwa has coincided with broader efforts to tighten controls on humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. New legislation requires nongovernmental groups to dismiss staff accused of activities deemed to “delegitimise Israel” or support boycotts, and to submit detailed staff lists as a condition for continuing operations.

Israeli authorities warned dozens of organisations – including Médecins Sans Frontières and Care – that their licences would expire at the end of 2025. Aid groups have described the measures as arbitrary, warning that further restrictions will fall most heavily on a civilian population already facing an acute humanitarian crisis.