The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Thursday it was temporarily shuttering its east Jerusalem headquarters after “Israeli extremists” set fire to the perimeter following weeks of repeated attacks, AFP reports.
“This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA headquarters in occupied east Jerusalem,” agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said on X, formerly Twitter, lamenting that it was the second attack on the compound in a matter of days.
He described how “a crowd accompanied by armed men were witnessed outside the compound chanting ‘Burn down the United Nations’.” UNRWA and staff from other UN agencies at the time were on the compound, which has on its grounds petrol and diesel stations for a fleet of UN cars.
“While there were no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas,” Lazzarini said, adding that UNRWA staff had put out the fire themselves.
The attack came after two months of “Israeli extremists staging protests outside the UNRWA compound”, he said, adding that one protest earlier this week “became violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and at the buildings of the compound”.
Thursday’s arson attempts marked “an outrageous development”, Lazzarini said. “Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk”.
“In light of this second appalling incident in less than a week, I have taken the decision to close down our compound until proper security is restored.” The UNRWA chief lamented that “over the past months, UN staff have regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation”.
“Our compound has been seriously vandalised and damaged. On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns.”
