UNRWA says over US$5 million in Jerusalem assets at risk after Israeli raid

UNRWA stressed the need to protect the centre and its assets because of its role in providing Palestinian refugee youth with education and vocational skills. (EPA Images pic) ISTANBUL: UN assets worth more than US$5 million were housed at an UNRWA training centre in occupied East Jerusalem that Israeli forces forcibly entered earlier this week, with damage and signs of looting found after their withdrawal, a senior agency official said.Anadolu Ajansi reported Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA affairs in the West Bank, said Israeli security forces, municipal staff and an elected official “forcibly and unlawfully” entered the Qalandiya Training Center on Aug 25 and forced UNRWA staff out.Israeli authorities subsequently remained on the premises and began renovation and clearance work, Friedrich said in a statement on X.He said Israeli security forces appeared to have vacated the centre on Aug 28, leaving behind damage to UN assets and signs of looting.“At the time of the unlawful entry, the KTC was being prepared for the new academic year, expecting to receive 340 students from across the West Bank next week,” he added.The facility includes dozens of vocational training workshops, classrooms, dormitories and administrative buildings, as well as valuable tools and equipment used for practical vocational training.Friedrich said UNRWA assets at the centre are worth more than US$5 million, noting that the agency and international partners have made significant investments in training equipment, infrastructure improvements, maintenance and repairs in recent years.Some of those projects were still underway when Israeli authorities entered the facility, he added.UNRWA stressed the need to protect the centre and its assets because of its role in providing Palestinian refugee youth with education and vocational skills.Friedrich said Israel has a legal obligation to reverse its actions “without delay” and prevent similar incidents from recurring.In an interview with Anadolu on Aug 27, Friedrich said Qalandiya was UNRWA’s last major facility in occupied East Jerusalem after Israeli authorities closed six agency schools and two health centres and seized and largely destroyed its main headquarters in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.He said the Qalandiya centre, established in 1952, is UNRWA’s oldest technical and vocational training facility in the West Bank and provide…