Ben Gvir hails UNRWA Jerusalem headquarters demolition as Israeli deputy mayor calls for staff 'annihilation'

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir hailed the destruction of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees' headquarters in East Jerusalem as a "historic day" on Tuesday, as Jerusalem's deputy mayor called for the "annihilation" of UNRWA employees.

The remarks came as Israeli forces moved to demolish the East Jerusalem compound of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, with troops storming the site early in the morning and ordering security guards to leave before bulldozers began tearing down the buildings.

Videos shared online showed heavy machinery pulling apart the structures while crowds of Israelis waved flags and celebrated the demolition.

In one video, Ben Gvir was seen smiling as he watched the buildings being destroyed.

Jerusalem deputy mayor Aryeh King went further, calling for the killing of UNRWA staff members and referring to them as "Nazis".

"It’s either them or us," he said in a video uploaded to his personal Facebook page. "With God’s help, we will destroy, we will eliminate and annihilate all UNRWA personnel."

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini described the demolition as an "unprecedented attack against a United Nations agency and its premises".

Israel’s actions represent a "new level of open and deliberate defiance of international law, including of the privileges and immunities of the United Nations", he said.

The compound has not hosted UNRWA staff for almost a year after Israeli authorities banned the organisation and shuttered its headquarters.

The agency was given no advance warning of the operation, citing Israeli legislation that bans all contact with UNRWA officials.

Israeli authorities have moved to cripple the operations of UN agencies and international NGOs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank in the wake of the 7 October attacks, cutting off vital lifelines for millions of Palestinian refugees.

The demolition is widely seen as an act of defiance against UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who last week threatened to refer Israel to the International Court of Justice over its crackdown on the agency.

Israeli officials have continued to allege that UNRWA staff took part in the Hamas led attack on 7 October, but have refused to provide evidence.

A 2024 independent investigation led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna found no factual basis for Israel’s allegations against the agency.

In March, an Israeli ban on the organisation came into force, curtailing its operations in the occupied West Bank, where more than 900,000 Palestinians rely on its services.

Israel has since escalated its crackdown on UNRWA operations, shuttering a number of schools and, last week, closing a health clinic in Jerusalem’s Old City for a month.

In December, the Knesset passed legislation cutting off utilities from UNRWA facilities across the territory and granting the government the power to seize UN property.

UNRWA has been the backbone of aid efforts in Gaza during the war, distributing two thirds of all food, providing shelter to more than one million displaced people, and vaccinating hundreds of thousands of children against polio. More than 360 UNRWA employees have been killed by Israeli forces during the conflict.

UNRWA was established by the UN in 1949 after more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their land by Israeli paramilitaries.

Its 30,000 staff members provide education, healthcare and social services to six million Palestinian refugees living in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and neighbouring Arab countries.