Israel raids UNRWA vocational training centre in East Jerusalem

Israeli forces entered the UNRWA vocational training centre in the Kalendiya area of East Jerusalem, deploying tear‑gas and sound‑bomb munitions. Personnel from the centre were detained inside one of its halls, and soldiers climbed onto the roof of the nearby Popular Committee building before dispersing the crowd.

The operation also extended to the surrounding Kalendiya refugee camp during the night, with troops moving through several neighbourhoods and using crowd‑control devices that ignited some ageing trees. The raid followed a municipal announcement that Israel plans to construct a new education complex on the site of the centre, heightening fears of demolition.

The centre, built on land allocated to UNRWA by Jordan before Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank, serves roughly 350 male and female students aged 15‑19. Palestinian authorities allege the raid is part of a broader strategy to seize control of East Jerusalem, weaken international agencies, and alter the city's demographic composition.