Israeli army demolishes UNRWA office in Nur Shams camp in West Bank

By Awad al-Rujoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – The Israeli army demolished the office of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem on Thursday, a local official said.

“Israeli bulldozers brought down the building, through which the UN agency runs the daily needs of residents,” Nehad al-Shaweeh, who heads a local service committee in the camp, told Anadolu.

“The building was partially damaged during previous Israeli raids and today it was completely demolished by Israeli forces,” he added.

The demolition came three days after the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed a law on Monday banning UNRWA from operating, which would eventually affect its work in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem. The legislation will take effect in 90 days.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called the Israeli ban “unprecedented and dangerous,” and in violation of the UN Charter.

According to the Palestinian official news agency Wafa, there are two schools and a health center run by UNRWA in Nur Shams camp.

Early on Thursday, two Palestinians, including a child, were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the camp, according to the Health Ministry.

Tension has been running high across the West Bank due to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 43,100 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack last year.

At least 766 Palestinians have since been killed and around 6,300 injured by Israeli army fire in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar