NGOs: The Demolition of the UNRWA Headquarters in Jerusalem is a New Crime by the Occupation Aimed at Ending the Right of Return

SadaNews - The Network of Palestinian NGOs condemned this morning's "Tuesday" new crime of the occupation by seizing the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in occupied Jerusalem. The occupation's bulldozers proceeded to demolish the main building that houses several offices and raise the flag of the occupation in Sheikh Jarrah area, targeting an international institution that enjoys immunity and protection from the United Nations, in a dangerous precedent that has never been seen in demolishing an international building in this manner by any country in the world other than the occupying state.

In this context, the network renewed its affirmation that the demolition operation and the incursions accompanied by displays of strength by the occupation army come within the framework of attempts aimed at liquidating the agency's work and erasing the right of return for Palestinian refugees guaranteed by UN resolution 194. This is part of a continuous series of attacks in which the occupying state targets Palestinian camps in northern West Bank, trying to undermine and re-engineer the camp as a testament to the Nakba within its open war on the Palestinian people and the ongoing genocidal crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. The building has been subjected to intensified campaigns against it for several months continuously.

The network demanded an immediate international action to stop these crimes and to make the voice of the United Nations, which established the agency and has been working under its umbrella for 77 years, heard. It called for tangible steps to confront the occupation measures, including the suspension of the occupying state's membership from the United Nations by a Security Council resolution in case of using the veto to prevent the passage of the resolution. It also called for an urgent General Assembly meeting, alongside working internationally to hold the occupying power accountable for its crimes and responding to the demolition of the headquarters by increasing support and allocations, and protecting the agency's work so it can continue providing its services, fulfilling its role since its establishment, and not allowing this role to be terminated in any way. Additionally, it demands the protection of the employees at the headquarters and the documents, papers, and various devices due to the important information they contain regarding the refugees, the agency's work, and its employees from records, archives, and other materials, warning against their destruction and loss, which could deprive the refugee population of their rights.