Gaza: Israeli forces raided Qalandiya refugee camp and the town of Kafr Aqab, north of occupied Jerusalem, deploying heavily in the streets and neighborhoods and moving to evacuate a UNRWA facility in Kafr Aqab.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, local sources reported that Israeli forces conducted extensive searches and raids throughout the camp and town, carrying out field interrogations of several residents. Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir participated in the raid, stating that Israeli authorities had initiated an "operation to evacuate the building," asserting that "there is no place for the agency in Jerusalem and Israel."
The sources further revealed that Israeli forces detained 40 individuals, including employees and others present at the Qalandiya Training Institute, subjecting them to questioning. Notices were distributed to several homes and facilities near the apartheid wall in Kafr Aqab, alongside intensified military measures in the region.
In Kafr Aqab, Israeli forces evacuated the Qalandiya Vocational Training Center, operated by UNRWA, and commenced demolishing its facilities. This action is part of continuing efforts targeting UNRWA facilities in occupied East Jerusalem, with Israeli media outlets previously reporting plans to demolish an UNRWA building in Jerusalem.
The complex, which encompasses educational, vocational, and health facilities, had been the subject of UNRWA warnings regarding an Israeli plan that would necessitate demolishing most of the training center's facilities. The raids on Qalandiya and Kafr Aqab coincide with ongoing Israeli measures against the camp and its vicinity, following a significant military operation earlier in the month that led to extensive damage, arrests, and the demolition of buildings and homes.
These actions are part of an intensified Israeli campaign against UNRWA and its facilities in occupied Jerusalem, amid persistent efforts to limit the agency's activities and obstruct its operations, despite its UN mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees. Israeli authorities had previously approved several measures targeting UNRWA's work, including prohibiting its operations in the occupied territories and revoking its arrangements and privileges, eliciting widespread Palestinian and international condemnation.