Israeli forces seal off UNRWA's only vocational college in East Jerusalem
Israeli troops have withdrawn from the Qalandiya Training Centre in East Jerusalem, but a surveillance drone remains overhead and the school stays closed to Palestinians.
By midday Friday, Israeli soldiers withdrew from the Qalandiya Training Centre, the sole vocational college for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, while an Israeli drone continued to monitor the area. The campus bears evidence of prior raids, including shattered glass and charred ground, and video footage shows ransacked classrooms and abandoned workshops. UNRWA confirmed damage and reported attempts by individuals to steal equipment during the troops' presence.
The centre, raided six times this year, faced a latest incursion accompanied by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who declared he would replace the UNRWA director. Israeli officials announced the land will be handed to the Jerusalem municipality, though the facility already serves as an educational complex for roughly 340 graduates each year, offering diplomas in 16 trades with a 90% employment rate. Established in 1952 on land rented from the Jordanian government, UNRWA asserts the site is protected by international law and lies in occupied Palestinian territory. The potential closure threatens a long-standing avenue for refugee skill development amid broader Israeli actions against UNRWA.
Why it matters
The closure would eliminate the only vocational training hub for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, jeopardizing jobs for hundreds.
How this story developed
- Aug 18 Settler siege in West Bank highlights IDF's reluctance to curb extremist violence
- Aug 22 UN agencies were permitted to deliver supplies to the besieged homes in Qusra.
- Aug 22 Mladenov warned that without a lasting cease-fire, there would be no roadmap for rebuilding Gaza and no administration to deploy. He cited the Ministry of Health’s tally of at least 1,288 Palestinians killed and 4,290 wounded since the October cease-fire began. Hamas had agreed on July 30 to hand over weapons under a US-backed roadmap, a move Netanyahu opposed. The plan envisions an International Stabilization Force supervising disarmament and a technocratic National Committee to run civil services. Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour accused Israel of annexation efforts that undermine the peace plan.
- Aug 25 U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee publicly called the settlers “Israeli terrorists” and hinted at possible sanctions.
- Aug 27 Senate Democrats drafted a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu urging an end to settler violence and a pause on new settlement approvals.
- Aug 28 Israel formally raised serious security concerns with the United States over the disarmament plan.
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