Qalandiya, West Bank – By midday Friday, Israeli troops had withdrawn from the Qalandiya Training Centre in occupied East Jerusalem, but overhead, an Israeli drone still hovered in the sky, likely filming and monitoring any activity below.
For now, occupied East Jerusalem’s last remaining vocational training centre remains off-limits to Palestinians. Meanwhile, Israeli troops are threatening to storm at any time.
Looking through the UNRWA centre’s main gate, the aftermath of a previous Israeli raid was evident: Shattered glass, the remnants of metal and charred ground.
Other videos Al Jazeera obtained from the training facility show classrooms ransacked, doors smashed and workshops abandoned.
UNRWA confirmed damage to the facility when Israeli troops were present and said it had received reports of “individuals entering the premises and attempting to steal some of its contents”.
Registration for the new school year was open until September 1, and classes were to begin soon. UNRWA says it hopes to reopen the facility at the earliest possible opportunity.
But on Tuesday, Israeli military and police personnel raided the centre and surrounding areas, expelling about 40 staff members.
The Qalandiya Training Centre has already been raided six times this year, UNRWA said.
But this time it was different, with Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accompanying the police during the incursion.
“Here sat the director of UNRWA, and now I sit in his place,” he said.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said on social media that the land will be handed to the Jerusalem municipality and turned into an educational complex.
But that’s exactly what the centre currently is – an educational facility giving Palestinian refugees the chance to study and join the workforce.
Each year, about 340 Palestinian refugees from across the occupied West Bank graduate from the training centre.
After they complete a two-year programme, they can obtain vocational diplomas in 16 specialisations, including carpentry, telecommunications, and interior design.
For many, this is a chance to get the skills needed to join the workforce, build a life and a career. The United Nations says 90% of the graduates from the facility find a job, which is a remarkable achievement given that nearly one in three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are out of work.
The centre has been running for more than seven decades, and one of its graduates is 73-year-old Youssef Abu Latifeh, who lives as a refugee in the Qalandiya refugee camp.
At his home, he shows us his architectural drawing diploma. Printed in 1974, some of the ink has faded, but UNRWA’s blue stamp and Youssef’s grades are still visible.
He was 20 years old when he graduated from the centre. It helped him secure a job in a Greek company in Libya, before returning to his refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
“If it wasn’t for the centre, I wouldn’t have finished my studies. My father worked at the UN, and his simple salary was barely able to sustain our big family, let alone send me to a university. So, I owe the centre a lot,” Youssef told Al Jazeera.
He had heard the news about the centre being threatened with closure, but didn’t think it would actually happen.
“It’s too painful to see how many people will be deprived of this crucial opportunity,” he told Al Jazeera.
The centre was established in 1952 on an eight-hectare (20-acre) plot of land, rented to UNRWA by the Jordanian government, which at the time administered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, before Israel’s occupation of the territory.
While Israeli authorities claim the land belongs to the Jewish National Fund, and has been handed to the Jerusalem Municipality, UNRWA says the premises are protected by the privileges and immunities of the UN under international law.
UNRWA also stressed that the centre is in occupied East Jerusalem and is part of occupied Palestinian territory, so Israel has no sovereign jurisdiction over the land.
In 1980, Israel illegally declared the annexation of occupied East Jerusalem – but it had been working on this since its 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territory.
Palestinians, like Youssef, say the war on UNRWA isn’t really about the land or buildings, but another attempt to erase what the agency represents: Palestinian refugees’ plight and their right of return.
Israel’s campaign against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has escalated in recent years. In 2024, Israel’s Knesset passed several anti-UNRWA laws.
Israeli authorities also stopped issuing visas or permits to UNRWA’s international staff since the end of January 2025.
In May 2025, Israeli authorities forcibly closed six UNRWA schools in occupied East Jerusalem, including the schools in Shu’fat Camp, affecting approximately 800 children.
In January 2026, Israeli authorities took over the UNRWA headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem and demolished mobile offices there.
UNRWA has already been suffering a deep financial crisis. This has been made worse by Israel’s freezing of the agency’s funds after alleging it had ties with Hamas, despite providing no adequate proof to back its claims. Still, the damage has been done.
