Jerusalem, 8 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israeli police raided the Jerusalem headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency on Monday, raising an Israeli flag over the compound.
Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Arieh King confirmed to The Press Service of Israel that the raid was carried out because of several years of unpaid property taxes and to collect intelligence on who was operating the compound. An Israeli ban on UNRWA has been in force since January 2025.
“The police entered the compound for the first time to collect information about who is de facto controlling the place,” King told TPS-IL. “But for the past year, there has been activity. If it’s against the law, the law needs to be enforced.”
King added that the people holding the compound were not paying municipal property taxes. According to King, UNRWA owes the city millions of shekels in unpaid taxes. “So the municipality asked the police to find out who the city should collect the money from. UNRWA is not allowed to operate there, so who is running the place?”
King said raising the flag was an important symbol because the compound is located in a Jewish neighborhood and it sends a message to UNRWA.
“People need to remember that UNRWA was involved in the terror attack and massacres of October 7. UNRWA cars were used by Hamas, and UNRWA compounds, schools, clinics, and kindergartens in the Gaza Strip were used by Hamas to hide Israeli hostages and to bury Israeli bodies in the compounds. There’s no difference between UNRWA in Gaza and UNRWA in Jerusalem,” he told TPS-IL.
UNRWA has been under fire for years, with Israeli officials demanding the agency be stripped of its authority in Gaza and defunded amid revelations that members of the agency’s staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attacks. Despite Israeli, U.S., and some European opposition, the U.N. General Assembly on Friday voted to extend UNRWA’s mandate for three more years.
Palestinian refugees are the only refugee population with its own dedicated UN agency. The rest of the world’s refugees fall under the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Around 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. The body of Israeli Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili is the last remaining in Gaza.
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