The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, condemned efforts by Israeli officials on Tuesday to shut down an UNRWA-run training centre in occupied East Jerusalem.
Agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said that Israeli forces and personnel from the Jerusalem local authority "forcefully entered" the Kalandia Training Centre and ordered its immediate evacuation.
"At least 350 students and 30 staff were present and impacted. Tear gas and sound bombs were fired," Mr. Lazzarini explained.
The development comes after a ban on UNRWA activities in Israel came into effect, in line with laws passed in October by the Israeli Knesset.
At least 350 students and 30 staff were present in the centre at the time.
Israeli police accompanied by municipal staff, also visited several other UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem, demanding their closure.
The incidents have disrupted learning for approximately 250 students attending three schools, alongside the trainees now locked out of the training centre.
In an interview with UN News's Abdelmonem Makki on Wednesday Roland Friedrich, Director of UNRWA affairs in the West Bank, spoke at length about the actions and explained that the agency is committed to continuing its services, including education for 50,000 children, healthcare for half a million patients in the occupied West Bank, and emergency education programmes for 200,000 children in Gaza.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
UN News: Israeli forces and personnel from the Jerusalem municipality entered several UNRWA's educational facilities in East Jerusalem on Tuesday. Could you share with us what happened exactly?
Roland Friedrich: Israeli security forces, accompanied by municipality personnel, forcefully entered our education training center in Kalandia and ordered it to be closed. That vocational training center provides training to more than 350 vulnerable Palestinian youth from all over the West Bank, and it is located in what Israel considers the sovereign territory of the state of Israel. According to international law, it's occupied territory.
After about three hours of discussions, Israeli security forces and the municipal representatives left, and we were able to resume education, but this was the first time that an educational installation in East Jerusalem was forcefully entered by Israeli security forces.
