Layan Bsharat and Sahin Demir
29 August 2026•Update: 29 August 2026
Israel’s withdrawal from the Qalandiya Training Center in East Jerusalem does not mean that its effective control over the facility has ended or that it has been returned to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), a Palestinian official said Saturday.
Omar al-Rajoub, director of the Jerusalem Governorate’s media department, told Anadolu that signs of Israeli control over the UN facility remained despite the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Israeli forces evacuated and seized the center on Tuesday and raised the Israeli flag in its courtyard before withdrawing on Friday, drawing widespread Arab and international condemnation.
Rajoub said Israeli forces welded shut the center’s doors, leaving only a small gate accessible, while workers affiliated with the Israeli-run Jerusalem municipality continued renovation, maintenance and preparation work inside the facility.
He said the military’s withdrawal from the building “does not mean the end of effective control over it or the return of the center to UNRWA’s administration.”
Israeli authorities also installed surveillance cameras inside the center and left figures depicting soldiers in some of its facilities, while municipal work continued, he added.
Rajoub described the measures as “dangerous indicators of an attempt to establish a new reality inside a UN facility,” amid declared plans to use the site under the pretext of developing educational and community services.
He said the implications extend beyond the Qalandiya center to UNRWA’s presence and its longstanding role in serving Palestinian refugees.
Established in 1952, the center provides vocational and technical training to hundreds of Palestinian refugees annually.
“A genuine withdrawal must be accompanied by reopening the center and returning it fully to the agency’s administration, ending the occupation municipality’s work inside it, and removing any equipment or surveillance devices installed during the period of control,” Rajoub said.
Israeli forces withdrew from the center Friday afternoon following a four-day raid. The operation came after representatives of 49 organizations and diplomatic missions accredited to Palestine visited the center and Qalandiya refugee camp on Monday.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took part in the raid and said there was “no place” for UNRWA in Jerusalem or Israel.
UNRWA on Saturday condemned the Israeli measures targeting the Qalandiya Training Center on Aug. 25, including the raid and what the agency described as unlawful activities inside its buildings.
The agency also reaffirmed its commitment to fully resuming educational activities at the center.
The developments come amid mounting Israeli pressure on UNRWA. In October 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed two laws restricting the agency’s operations, including one banning its activities inside Israel, which took effect in early 2025.
In October 2025, the International Court of Justice affirmed Israel’s obligation to respect the inviolability of UN premises, including UNRWA facilities, and not interfere with the agency’s property and assets.
Despite the pressure, the UN General Assembly renewed UNRWA’s mandate for another three years in December 2025, allowing it to continue operating until June 2029.
UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to provide assistance and protection to Palestinian refugees across its five areas of operation: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
