Israeli forces raided the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) Training Center in the Qalandia refuge camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem, on Monday and detained staff inside the site, the Jerusalem Governorate said, Anadolu reports.
In a statement, the governorate said Israeli forces stormed the center, fired tear gas canisters and held teaching and administrative staff inside one of its halls.
Israeli forces also climbed onto the roof of the camp’s local committee building, it added.
The Israeli army had raided the Qalandia camp overnight Sunday into Monday, deploying forces across several neighborhoods and heavily firing stun grenades and tear gas, causing fire, according to the governorate.
The raid came about six weeks after the Jerusalem Governorate warned of an Israeli plan to demolish UNRWA’s training center in Qalandia.
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On June 11, the governorate said the Israeli municipal authorities were advancing a plan to build a new educational complex on land belonging to the center.
The center serves around 350 students aged 15 to 19 and is built on land made available to the UN agency by the Jordanian government before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, according to UNRWA.
Palestinians accuse Israel of seizing their land and undermining Palestinian and international institutions operating in East Jerusalem as part of efforts to consolidate its occupation of the city and change its demographic and cultural character.
Israeli authorities carried out 341 demolitions in the first half of this year, destroying 740 Palestinian structures and affecting 923 Palestinians, according to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.
READ: Over 2,500 Israeli occupiers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem
