Israel on Wednesday rejected U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’s criticism of its takeover of a former U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) facility in Kafr Aqab.
The U.N. agency had no property rights to the site, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein, adding that it would be converted into an educational and community complex for local Arab residents.
“You’re simply not telling the truth,” he responded on X to Guterres, who on Tuesday accused Israeli authorities of unlawfully entering and remaining at the Qalandia Training Centre.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Municipality began work on a complex at the site with an estimated cost of more than 40 million shekels ($13.4 million), which is to include schools, a mosque, sports facilities and healthcare centers.
You’re simply not telling the truth (yet again):
— Oren Marmorstein (@OrenMarmorstein) August 26, 2026
1. UNRWA has never had any property rights in the facility and occupied it unlawfully.
2. The facility is intended to serve as a school and community center for the Arab children of the Kafr Aqab neighborhood.
3. You and UNRWA… https://t.co/amf9N0p97E
In X post on Tuesday, Guterres had called the move “wholly unacceptable” and inconsistent with Israel’s obligations under international law. He called on Israel to vacate the site and restore it to the United Nations “without delay.”
In 2024, the Knesset passed, by large majorities, two laws banning UNRWA following the exposure of UNRWA staff complicity in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, and despite pressure from the Biden administration and other countries against the move. The legislation came into effect in January 2025.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced the beginning of construction work on the compound earlier on Tuesday.
“Israel will not allow an organization whose employees were involved in terrorism and the Oct. 7 massacre to operate on its territory, and will act against it with all available means,” he said.
The Jerusalem Municipality began renovation work today on a new educational and community complex in Jerusalem’s Kafr Aqab neighborhood, for the benefit of thousands of its Arab residents. The Municipality is investing over NIS 40 million in the project, including a new municipal… pic.twitter.com/HrbjiMdsYB
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) August 25, 2026
The complex is being built on a plot owned by the Jewish National Fund since 1937, which was allocated to the city following consultations with local residents.
“Despite holding no property rights to the plot, UNRWA has walled off the land for decades, denying local residents much-needed space for schools and community services. UNRWA’s activities in Israel were prohibited by law following evidence of its employees’ involvement in the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks and its inseparable links to Hamas,” the ministry said.
“The bottom line is simple: while UNRWA is playing politics, the Jerusalem Municipality is improving daily life for all its residents, Jews and Arabs alike,” the statement concluded.
