dpa
Tel Aviv (dpa) — Israel plans to close a further six schools run by the Palestine refugee agency UNRWA in the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem.
Police officers and employees of the Jerusalem city council had forcibly entered the schools, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on Tuesday on the platform X. They had ordered closures within 30 days, he added.
Israeli police did not initially comment on the incident.
“Some 800 boys & girls are directly impacted by these closure orders and are likely to miss finishing their school year,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote.
Israel accuses the UN Palestinian relief agency of having employees involved in the militant activities of the Islamist Hamas group.
The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, responded by imposing a ban on work on Israeli territory, which came into force at the end of January.
Another law prohibits Israeli authorities from having any contact with UNRWA.
According to media reports, an Israeli hostage who had been released stated that she had been held in a UNRWA facility in the Gaza Strip.
Israel had previously ordered the closure of several UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem city council said that it would take care of the affected students after the UNRWA work ban went into effect.
©2025 dpa GmbH. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
In Related News:
UN Secretary-General Guterres: West Bank Must not Become Another Gaza
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(TNS)
New York (dpa) — UN Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed deep alarm over renewed violence in the Gaza Strip and warned of a further escalation in the Middle East, particularly in the occupied West Bank.
The risk of the occupied West Bank transforming into another Gaza makes it even worse,” Guterres said on Tuesday in New York.
He urged Israel and the international community to respect international law: “We must stick to our core principles. Member States of the United Nations must adhere to their obligations under international law. And there must be justice and accountability when they do not.”
Referring to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Guterres said: “The world may be running out of words to describe the situation in Gaza, but we will never run away from the truth.”
“The current path is a dead end – totally intolerable in the eyes of international law and history.”
“It is time to end the dehumanization, protect civilians, release the hostages, ensure lifesaving aid, and renew the ceasefire.”
©2025 dpa GmbH. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
