Israeli Police Storm UNRWA Schools in East Jerusalem as Closure Orders Take Effect
Six UN-run schools serving 800 Palestinian students forcibly shut down in occupied East Jerusalem amid escalating Israeli crackdown on Palestinian education institutions.
Watan-On Thursday, Israeli occupation police stormed the schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem and ordered them to be evacuated, enforcing a previous decision to shut them down.
The decision by Israeli authorities to close six UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem, attended by around 800 students, officially went into effect on Thursday.
In a statement, the Jerusalem Governorate said:“Israeli occupation forces stormed UNRWA schools in Shuafat refugee camp, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, as the closure decision came into effect this morning.”
It added that Israeli police “posted military orders to evacuate and close the schools and demanded that students and educational staff leave the premises immediately.”
Israel Enforces UNRWA School Closures in East Jerusalem Amid Legal Dispute
At the beginning of April, Israeli authorities handed UNRWA schools formal closure orders effective May 8, claiming a lack of “legal licensing.”
Three of the affected schools are in Shuafat, with others located in Wadi al-Joz, Silwan, and Sur Baher.
The governorate noted that Israeli police forces were deployed around and inside the schools, creating a highly tense atmosphere and raising fears of attacks on students and teachers—part of what it called a systematic Israeli escalation against Palestinian educational institutions in the city.
On January 26, 2025, Israel ordered UNRWA to evacuate all its buildings in occupied East Jerusalem and cease operations there by January 30. The schools were later given a closure deadline of May 8.
Reacting to the move, Roland Friedrich, UNRWA’s Director in the West Bank, said:“The closure orders issued by Israeli officials against six UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem jeopardize the right to education for nearly 800 children.”
In a post last month on X (formerly Twitter), Friedrich added:“These orders constitute a violation of Israel’s obligations under international law.”
On October 28, 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed two laws banning UNRWA from operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, revoking all privileges and prohibiting official contact with the agency. These laws took effect on January 30, 2025.
📹 شرطة الاحتلال بـ #القدس_المحتلة تقتحم عدداً من المدارس التابعة لوكالة الأونروا وتسلمها أوامر عسكرية تقضي بإخلائها وإغلاقها، وتطلب من الطلبة والطواقم التعليمية مغادرتها فوراً. pic.twitter.com/ZbhU5Mh0vd
— عربي بوست (@arabic_post) May 8, 2025
Israel claims that some UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack—an allegation the agency denies. The United Nations has confirmed UNRWA’s neutrality and rejected the Israeli ban.
UNRWA continues to provide essential aid, health services, and education to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.
The need for UNRWA’s services has grown dramatically under the weight of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, supported by the U.S., which has killed or injured over 171,000 Palestinians—mostly women and children—since October 7, 2023. More than 11,000 remain missing.
