ICSPR: The Closure of UNRWA Schools in Jerusalem is a New Crime and a Clear Violation of the Immunity of UN Institutions

Reference No.: 40 / 2025
Date: April 9, 2025
Original Language: Arabic

Press Release
ICSPR: The Closure of UNRWA Schools in Jerusalem is a New Crime and a Clear Violation of the Immunity of UN Institutions

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) condemns the dangerous step taken by the Israeli occupation police by closing six schools affiliated with UNRWA in the neighborhoods of Shuafat, Sultan, Sur Baher, and Wadi Al-Joz in the city of Jerusalem. This act constitutes a new crime against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and a blatant disregard for the immunities and privileges granted to the United Nations and its institutions.

Today, Wednesday, April 9, 2024, a force from the Israeli occupation police, accompanied by representatives from the Israeli Ministry of Education, stormed UNRWA-run schools in Jerusalem and informed all UNRWA school principals of orders to shut down their institutions within 30 days. This is part of a continued series of systematic international crimes aimed at undermining the existence and legitimacy of UNRWA and dismantling the services it provides to Palestinian refugees—particularly the right to education—without regard to the UN mandate granted to the Agency under UN General Assembly Resolution 302.

It is worth noting that in late October 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed a series of decisions and legislations banning UNRWA’s operations in the occupied Palestinian territories. As a result, the Agency’s headquarters in Jerusalem were closed and seized.

There are more than 110,000 Palestinian refugees in occupied Jerusalem who rely on UNRWA’s essential services in the fields of education, health, and relief—especially those in the Shuafat and Qalandia refugee camps and in key institutions such as the Indian Hospice Clinic and UNRWA schools in Jerusalem and Sur Baher.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns this dangerous crime, which contradicts the rules of international humanitarian law and relevant UN resolutions. This step represents a clear violation of the immunities and privileges of the United Nations and a direct challenge to international legitimacy and UN resolutions that have condemned Israeli crimes against UNRWA and its staff, and affirmed the continuation of UNRWA’s mandate until a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue is reached in accordance with UN Resolution 194.

ICSPR also warns of the catastrophic repercussions of the illegal Israeli actions against UNRWA, including the dire consequences of closing its schools—an action that would deprive children of their basic right to education. Furthermore, this decision reflects Israel’s plan to dismantle UNRWA’s operations in the occupied Palestinian territories and reinforces the policy of Judaizing the city of Jerusalem.

Accordingly, ICSPR states the following:

• ICSPR calls on the United Nations and the international community to fulfill their legal and humanitarian responsibilities by rejecting these illegal and racist decisions, and to act immediately to pressure the occupying state to reverse these decisions and violations. ICSPR also urges the international community to provide protection for UNRWA’s work and ensure its continued operation in occupied Jerusalem and all areas of its mandate.

• ICSPR calls for holding accountable those responsible for crimes against UNRWA and urges the activation of boycott mechanisms and the imposition of sanctions on the Israeli occupation state, including the suspension of its membership in the United Nations until it ceases its crimes in the Palestinian territories and against UNRWA.

• ICSPR urges the international community to provide the necessary political and financial support to UNRWA so that it can continue delivering its vital services to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operation, in accordance with its UN mandate.

• ICSPR calls upon the State of Palestine, the League of Arab States, member states of the UNRWA Advisory Commission, and the free people of the world to take urgent action using all available tools to stop genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the Judaization of Jerusalem, as well as other Israeli violations against Palestinians and UNRWA.

End.