Jerusalem begins renovation at Kafr Akab UNRWA facility, will become educational complex

BySARAH BEN-NUNAUGUST 25, 2026 13:35The Jerusalem Municipality began renovation work on a new educational and community complex at an UNRWA facility in Kafr Akab on Tuesday, according to the Foreign Ministry.More than NIS 40 million is being invested in the initial stage of the project, including a municipal boys’ high school scheduled to open next week with the start of the school year. The longer-term plan includes additional schools, a mosque, and sports, community, and healthcare facilities intended to serve thousands of Arab residents of the neighborhood.The site is the Kalandia Training Centre, a vocational education facility operated by UNRWA for more than 70 years.UNRWA says the center provides vocational training to approximately 350 young Palestinians in subjects including vehicle maintenance, plumbing, carpentry, renewable energy, and information technology.The compound lies beside the Kalandia refugee camp but, according to the boundaries recognized under Israeli law, is located within Jerusalem’s municipal territory. Kafr Akab is in the northernmost part of the capital, on the other side of the security barrier.Israel Police forces seen outside the UNRWA center in Jerusalem, as part of a raid on the center, December 8, 2025 (credit: CHAIM GOLDBERG/FLASH90)The Foreign Ministry said the land has been owned by the Jewish National Fund since 1937, was allocated to the municipality, and that UNRWA has no property rights there. It accused the agency of fencing off land needed by local residents for schools and public services.UNRWA disputes that account. It says the Jordanian government made the land available to the agency before Israel captured east Jerusalem in 1967 and argues that the training center is a protected UN installation. The agency has described previous Israeli entries into the compound as unauthorized and warned that its closure would eliminate an important vocational institution for young Palestinians from across the West Bank.A 2022 government decision instructed the Israel Land Authority to allocate land in Kafr Akab for a municipal educational campus teaching the Israeli curriculum. The municipality has since advanced a broader plan for public and educational facilities in the area.Ben-Gvir announces further legislation against UNRWA activityNational Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived at the site on Tuesday morning and portrayed the municipal work as a police operation to take control of the compound and remove UNRWA.“Today we are making history,” Ben-Gvir said. “This morning, we are beginning the work to remove UNRWA from Kafr Aqab.”He said police were working with other authorities to enforce legislation restricting UNRWA’s activities in Israel and accused the agency of providing cover for Hamas.Israel Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, who initiated the legislation, accused Ben-Gvir of attempting to claim credit for the operation. The work began five days after she, B’Tsalmo, and Yaakov Samerano petitioned the High Court against Ben-Gvir and other ministers over their failure to implement the law.Malinovsky argued that the petition had forced action after more than six months of warnings, adding that “without my High Court petition, and if we were not in an election period, he would have continued sleeping.”Samerano is the father of Yonatan Samerano, who was murdered during the October 7 massacre and whose body was taken into Gaza by an UNRWA employee, according to footage presented by Israel. His body was later returned to Israel.The petition says the government missed a 30-day deadline set by a December 2025 amendment to take possession of the Kafr Akab site. The municipality requested security assistance in January, but the operation was delayed because of constraints on the forces needed to carry it out.The petitioners are asking the High Court to require police and the IDF to provide those forces, or to set a binding deadline. The court has not yet ruled.Tuesday’s work may resolve the case, but only if the state confirms that it has formally taken possession of the site, rather than merely allowing municipal contractors to enter.Knesset bars UNRWA from operating in Israeli territoryUNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to provide education, healthcare, and other services to Palestinian refugees across the region.In 2024, the Knesset prohibited UNRWA from operating in territory over which Israel claims sovereignty - including east Jerusalem - and barred state authorities from maintaining contact with the agency. A December 2025 amendment extended the restrictions and authorized the state to take possession of designated UNRWA sites in Kafr Akab and Ma’alot Dafna. The Ma’alot Dafna compound was taken over in January.The legislation followed Israeli allegations that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had infiltrated UNRWA and used its facilities. UNRWA denies any institutional affiliation with Hamas.A UN investigation found that nine of 19 employees investigated may have been involved in the October 7 attacks and terminated their employment. It found insufficient or no evidence against the others. A separate review identified weaknesses in UNRWA’s neutrality safeguards but said Israel had not provided evidence supporting its broader claims about the agency’s workforce.A separate High Court challenge to the laws ended last week without a ruling on their legality. The petitioners withdrew the case after the justices expressed skepticism about their arguments, and the court deleted it without deciding whether the laws were valid.Follow us on Google