Latest news with #Arab-dominated
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel to close six more schools run by UNRWA in East Jerusalem
Israel plans to close a further six schools run by the Palestine refugee agency UNRWA in the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem. Police officers and employees of the Jerusalem city council had forcibly entered the schools, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on Tuesday on the platform X. They had ordered closures within 30 days, he added. Israeli police did not initially comment on the incident. "Some 800 boys & girls are directly impacted by these closure orders and are likely to miss finishing their school year," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote. Israel accuses the UN Palestinian relief agency of having employees involved in the militant activities of the Islamist Hamas group. The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, responded by imposing a ban on work on Israeli territory, which came into force at the end of January. Another law prohibits Israeli authorities from having any contact with UNRWA. According to media reports, an Israeli hostage who had been released stated that she had been held in a UNRWA facility in the Gaza Strip. Israel had previously ordered the closure of several UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem city council said that it would take care of the affected students after the UNRWA work ban went into effect.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New raid on Palestinian bookshop in Jerusalem criticized
A Palestinian bookshop in the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem has been raided by police again. The owner, Imad Muna, has been arrested, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Tuesday. In February, Muna said his sons Ahmed and Mahmoud were temporarily detained in the bookshop. Citing the family, several Israeli media outlets reported that the police did not present a court-issued search warrant during their latest raid on the Educational Bookshop. According to eyewitnesses and the Palestinian media, the police confiscated dozens of books. As in February, there was criticism of the latest incident from Germany. "What are the legal grounds for this new raid? And what purpose does it serve to keep detaining Palestinian booksellers who are the embodiment of peaceful dialogue?" the German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, wrote on the X platform. The head of the German representative office in Ramallah, Oliver Owcza, also expressed concern about "another police raid" in the bookstore. This had also led to "the confiscation of international literature." After the search in February, a police spokesperson said that the booksellers were suspected of "selling books with inflammatory content and supporting terrorism." According to Israeli media reports, the two booksellers were released after two days. The bookshop specializes in Palestinian culture and history, as well as the Palestinian perspective on the conflict with Israel.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UNRWA: Israel closes three schools, training centre in East Jerusalem
Israel has ordered the closure of three schools and a training centre run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem, according to the agency. "Children and young people in East Jerusalem denied of their right to education in UNRWA schools," UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X on Tuesday. The Israeli police referred dpa to the Jerusalem city administration, which did not comment. Israel has accused UNRWA workers of being involved in terrorist activities organized by Gaza-based Islamist militants Hamas, including the unprecedented terrorist attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Lazzarini said as well as three schools with 250 children being told to close, Israeli security forces and Jerusalem city officials forcefully entered the UNRWA 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," he added. "This is a violation of the basic right to education as well as of United Nations privileges and immunities. Children's access to education must be preserved and United Nations facilities must be protected and respected at all times wherever they are." Israel's parliament imposed a ban on UNRWA working on Israeli territory, which came into force at the end of January. Another law prohibits Israeli authorities from having any contact with UNRWA. The Jewish state sees East Jerusalem as part of its "eternal and indivisible capital" while the Palestinians maintain their claim to East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. The Jerusalem city council had announced that it would take care of affected students once the UNRWA ban began.
