The primary United Nations company that aids Palestinians, generally known as UNRWA, mentioned on Thursday that it had briefly closed its headquarters in East Jerusalem for the security of its workers after elements of the compound had been set on hearth following weeks of assaults.
“This night, Israeli residents set hearth twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem,” mentioned the chief of the company, Philippe Lazzarini, on social media. The fireplace prompted in depth injury to the out of doors areas of the compound, Mr. Lazzarini mentioned, however that no employees from UNRWA or different U.N. companies suffered accidents. He added that a few of the employees “needed to put out the hearth themselves because it took the Israeli hearth extinguishers and police some time earlier than they turned up.”
The assault put the lives of U.N. workers at “severe danger” and got here two days after protesters threw stones at workers members on the compound, Mr. Lazzarini mentioned.
Protests by Israeli settlers calling for UNRWA’s closure have been persevering with for months. “On a number of events, Israeli extremists threatened our workers with weapons,” Mr. Lazzarini mentioned in Thursday’s social media put up. He added that underneath worldwide legislation, it’s Israel’s duty “as an occupying energy to make sure that United Nations personnel and services are protected always.”
Many Israeli officers have known as for years for UNRWA to be dismantled, and the company misplaced funding from some donor international locations earlier this yr after Israel accused a dozen of its staff of being concerned within the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7. An impartial evaluation commissioned by the U.N. and launched in April discovered that Israel had not supplied any proof to help its additional accusations that many UNRWA workers members had been members of terrorist organizations.