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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) chief said that Israelis twice set fire to the perimeter of the agency\u2019s headquarters in East Jerusalem on Thursday.<\/p>\n
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini<\/a><\/span><\/span> said that both UNRWA and other U.N. agency staff were present when the incidents happened.<\/p>\n He said no casualties occurred among U.N. staff, but the fires caused \u201cextensive\u201d damage to the compound\u2019s outdoor area.<\/p>\n \u201cOur director with the help of other staff had to put out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up,\u201d Lazzarini said in a Thursday post<\/a> on the social media platform X.<\/p>\n Lazzarini said the compound will be closed \u201cuntil proper security is restored.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.N. confirmed the incident<\/a> on X, writing, \u201cHumanitarians are #NotATarget.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel has criticized UNRWA in recent months, accusing some of the UNRWA\u2019s staff of being involved in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 Israelis.<\/p>\n An independent report<\/a>, released in April, did not find that UNRWA was compromised by outside groups or had systemic neutrality failure. Former French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna, who led the probe, said the agency has \u201croom for improvement\u201d and does have some neutrality issues, but the mechanisms of the agency are \u201celaborate.\u201d<\/p>\n UNRWA has been an essential resource for Palestinians in Gaza as the agency provides food, shelter, medicine and other supplies.<\/p>\n Lazzarini stated that \u201cIsraeli extremists\u201d have been protesting at the compound for the past two months. This week, the protest was \u201cviolent,\u201d and stones were thrown at U.N. staff.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the past months, UN staff have regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation. Our compound has been seriously vandalized and damaged,\u201d he said on X. \u201cOn several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the responsibility of the State of Israel as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n