The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Friday that Israeli occupation authorities are taking steps to forcibly close the Qalandia Training Center, a move that would immediately halt the education of hundreds of Palestinian students who rely on the facility for vocational training.
Jonathan Fowler, UNRWA’s Director of Communications, delivered the warning during the UN’s weekly press briefing from Geneva.
He said the center currently provides 350 students from the occupied West Bank with essential skills in fields such as plumbing, metalwork, and vehicle maintenance.
According to Fowler, the facility is now at imminent risk because the land on which it stands is being targeted for seizure by Israeli authorities.
Fowler stressed that shutting down the center would leave students with no alternative institution capable of offering comparable training.
He warned that the consequences would be severe, cutting off a generation of young Palestinian refugees from economic opportunities and placing their right to education in immediate jeopardy.
The official also urged the international community to recognize the urgency of the situation and act before the closure becomes irreversible.
The warning comes amid escalating Israeli actions against UNRWA operations in East Jerusalem. Fowler described Israel’s seizure of the agency’s headquarters in the city—followed by the demolition of its buildings—as a new level of deliberate defiance of international law.
He emphasized that the compound is protected under UN privileges and immunities, making Israel’s decision to invade, demolish, and confiscate the site an unprecedented act with potentially far‑reaching global implications.
Fowler noted that invading and dismantling a UN compound is virtually unheard of and constitutes a clear violation of international legal norms.
He pointed to the International Court of Justice ruling issued in October, which explicitly states that Israel is obligated to facilitate UNRWA’s work rather than obstruct it. The events of the past week, he said, stand in direct contradiction to that ruling.
He also rejected Israeli claims of ownership over the land on which the UNRWA compound sits, reiterating that both the International Court of Justice and the UN General Assembly have repeatedly affirmed that Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem is illegal. As a result, Israel has no sovereign rights over the land in question.
Fowler warned that the seizure of the headquarters may signal further steps aimed at dismantling UNRWA’s presence in the city.
He said the agency is deeply concerned that the next target could be its vocational training center in East Jerusalem, a move that would deprive hundreds of students of their right to education and further undermine the agency’s ability to serve Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA has called on member states to intervene diplomatically to prevent the closure and to uphold the protections afforded to UN facilities under international law.
