PRESS RELEASE – January 28, 2026 Demolition of the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem: another serious violation of international law
On January 20, 2026, Israeli occupation forces entered the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), located in Sheikh Jarrah, occupied East Jerusalem, and illegally demolished the building with bulldozers, in full view of Israeli elected officials. These premises had housed UNRWA's headquarters since 1952 and, as such, were protected under the regime applicable to United Nations property and facilities.
This destruction constitutes a grave violation of international law, including international humanitarian law. It violates the obligations of the State of Israel, the occupying power, to respect the Fourth Geneva Convention and the law of occupation, in particular Article 53, which prohibits such destruction of immovable property. It is part of a systematic campaign of repeated attacks carried out by the State of Israel against the United Nations, its agencies, and their personnel since the beginning of the genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip, targeting UNRWA in particular.
The law adopted by the Israeli Parliament on October 28, 2024, which prohibits UNRWA operations in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, as well as the unilateral denunciation on November 3, 2024, of the Specific Agreement of June 14, 1967, between Israel and UNRWA without prior negotiation and agreement, are illegal under the Charter of the United Nations and the 1946 Convention, which oblige Israel to grant all necessary privileges and immunities to all organs of the United Nations, including UNRWA, and to protect its personnel.
This law, which came into effect in January 2025, aims to force UNRWA staff to vacate the premises for security reasons. In December 2025, a legislative amendment was passed authorizing the confiscation of the land on which UNRWA buildings stand in East Jerusalem, thus paving the way for their demolition.
However, the State of Israel, as the occupying power, does not have the legal standing to prevent UNRWA from operating in the Palestinian territory which it illegally occupies and which it must leave (ICJ Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024).
In response to these attacks, the United Nations General Assembly referred the matter to the International Court of Justice in December 2024, requesting an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations regarding the presence and activities of the United Nations in the occupied territories. In its advisory opinion issued on October 22, 2025, the Court unequivocally confirmed that Israel has no right to obstruct the work of UNRWA. It reiterated that, as an occupying power, Israel is obligated under international law to facilitate the Agency's operations, respect the inviolability of its premises, and lift all restrictions imposed on its activities.
The destruction of UNRWA premises constitutes not only a serious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention but also a flagrant violation of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. Article 2 of this Convention enshrines the inviolability of UN premises, an obligation that all member states, including Israel, are bound to respect. This act of destruction also contravenes the interim orders and provisional measures adopted by the ICJ in 2024.
These acts are likely to constitute war crimes under conventional and customary international law, as well as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, particularly due to the intentional destruction of protected civilian property, especially property belonging to a United Nations agency. They also form part of a pattern of measures aimed at depriving a protected population of the numerous services and humanitarian assistance provided by the Agency, which are essential for its life and survival and constitute various international crimes.
JURDI recalls that these violations engage the international responsibility of the State of Israel as well as the individual criminal responsibility of their perpetrators, whether civilian or military.
They also engage the responsibility of third States such as France which have, among other things, the obligation to respect IHL "in all circumstances" as well as the Charter of the United Nations.
The banning of UNRWA and the destruction of its premises in East Jerusalem are part of a policy aimed at erasing the existence and identity of Palestinian refugees, carrying out ethnic cleansing of East Jerusalem, illegally expanding Israeli settlements and undermining the inalienable and imperative right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, as guaranteed by the Charter of the United Nations, the International Covenants on Human Rights, customary international law and the jurisprudence of the ICJ.
This destruction sets an extremely dangerous precedent for the United Nations, its missions, and the safety of its personnel, both in the occupied Palestinian territories and globally. It demands an immediate and firm response from the international community to ensure respect for the Charter and to enforce, "in all circumstances," the peremptory norms of humanity of international humanitarian law, which are binding on all States and whose violations offend the collective conscience of all, generate tragic humanitarian consequences, and threaten international peace and security.
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