Israel shutters UNRWA health clinic in Jerusalem’s Old City for 30 days
Police have shuttered a health clinic in Jerusalem’s Old City run by UNRWA, the United Nations agency serving Palestinians, and ordered it to remain closed for 30 days. The police action was Israel’s latest step targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which has provided social services to millions of Palestinians.
Israel has accused the group of collaborating with Hamas, and has said some of its employees have ties to terror groups or participated in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught. Israel has passed legislation banning the group from Israeli territory, barring Israeli officials from having contact with it and shutting it off from Israeli electricity and water.
Israel was due to stop providing those services to the rest of UNRWA’s facilities in Jerusalem in the coming weeks. According to the UN, Israeli officers “stormed” the health clinic on Monday, closed it for 30 days and ordered it to remove UN signage. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, which said the closure will last until February 11, it is known as the al-Zawiya Clinic.
The Haaretz newspaper reported that the clinic’s officials fear the closure will be permanent. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini called the closure “a new step in a pattern of deliberate disregard for international law & the United Nations.” In response to an inquiry from The Times of Israel, police confirmed the closure and accused the clinic of breaking the law.
“The facility in Jerusalem was closed for 30 days due to unlawful activity, in accordance with the law and following a lawful enforcement process,” the police statement said.
The statement did not detail which laws the clinic had broken, but its closure comes more than a year after Israel passed laws in October 2024 barring the agency from operating in Israeli territory and curtailing its activities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by banning state authorities from having any contact with it.
The legislation cutting off water and electricity passed late last month. According to WAFA, the clinic, which has been operational for decades, serves 30,000 people, and provides primary care to children and pregnant women plus a dental clinic, emergency services and other departments.
It is the main source of health care for many locals, UNRWA says. “For most of them, it’s their only possibility of having access to primary healthcare,” UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said, according to the UN. “So, there’s a right to health involved in this.” UNRWA continued to operate for some time after the 2024 bills’ passage, but its schools in East Jerusalem were eventually ordered shuttered .
Israeli police raided UNRWA’s offices in the capital last month, lowering the United Nations flag and raising an Israeli flag in its place. In about two weeks, according to WAFA and Haaretz, Israel will cut off electricity and water to other UNRWA facilities in Jerusalem.
According to the outlets, the step will affect 10 buildings, among them schools, clinics, and other types of centers. Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Israel in a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu that he could refer the country to the International Court of Justice if it does not repeal the laws targeting UNRWA and return seized assets and property.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon dismissed the threat. “We are not fazed by the Secretary-General’s threats,” Danon said. “Instead of dealing with the undeniable involvement of UNRWA personnel in terrorism, the Secretary-General chooses to threaten Israel. This is not defending international law; this is defending an organization marred by terrorism.” Sam Sokol and Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.
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