{"id":314921,"date":"2026-01-21T11:39:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=314921"},"modified":"2026-01-31T12:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T17:22:10","slug":"israels-attacks-on-the-united-nations-and-unrwa-in-opt-letter-from-the-state-of-palestine-a-es-10-1053-s-2026-39","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/israels-attacks-on-the-united-nations-and-unrwa-in-opt-letter-from-the-state-of-palestine-a-es-10-1053-s-2026-39\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s Attacks on the United Nations and ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA in OPT \u2013 Letter from the State of Palestine (A\/ES-10\/1053-S\/2026\/39)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n\n
General Assembly<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nSecurity Council<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tenth emergency special session<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nEighty-first year<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Agenda item 5<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Identical letters dated 21 January 2026 from the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, the President of the General\u00a0Assembly\u00a0and the President of the Security Council<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We have continually warned of Israel\u2019s illegal actions against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (±¬ÁÏÍøRWA) and the international presence in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, and appealed for decisive measures by the international community to bring a halt to these crimes and hold Israel, the occupying Power, to account.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We have further continually warned of the dangerous ramifications of the failure to stop these crimes, which embolden Israel\u2019s lawlessness and undermine international law, to the detriment of the Palestinian people, the\u00a0region\u00a0and the international community in its entirety.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But, regrettably,\u00a0all of\u00a0our appeals have been to no avail, the absence of accountability allowing Israel to carry on with total impunity, one crime after the other.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this regard, we condemn in the strongest terms Israel\u2019s continued attacks on ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA and the United Nations as whole, most recently its brazen demolition of the United Nations compound in the Shaykh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem, which for decades served as the ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA headquarters.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The demolition carried out yesterday by the Israeli occupation \u2013 with Israeli government officials openly crowing about Israel\u2019s seizure and destruction of the buildings in the compound and raising the Israeli flag on it \u2013 is a blatant act of aggression and theft breaching countless principles and legal norms, including the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This deplorable, hostile act constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and the inviolability of United Nations premises, of numerous United Nations resolutions, and of other core provisions of international law, including as codified in\u00a0the Fourth Geneva Convention and, the common duty to respect and ensure respect thereof.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, we recall, as reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice in its 19 July 2024 and 22 October 2025 advisory opinions, that this occupation is illegal in its entirety, that Israel is not the sovereign in Occupied Palestine and has zero sovereignty rights in our territory, including in East Jerusalem, and that there is no legitimate justification for such unlawful actions aimed at forcibly altering the demography, status and character of occupied territory and annexing it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s offensive rhetoric and empty pretexts for these crimes, including its false allegations of terrorism, must be rejected. Israel has no right whatsoever to be present in any part of Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, and no right whatsoever to seize these lands or properties. It must halt its attacks on ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA and respect United Nations privileges and immunities without exception.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No one should enable,\u00a0support\u00a0or legitimize these illegal actions, and Israel must be compelled to reverse its decisions, stop its defamatory and violent campaign against ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA, lift its ban on ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA staff and other international\u00a0organizations\u00a0and make reparations to the United Nations for all damages caused.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As stressed in my letter of 12 January, it is patently clear that Israel\u2019s illegal acts against the United Nations and other\u00a0international organizations deliberately target those\u00a0providing assistance to\u00a0the Palestinian people. The aim is clear: to deprive our people of the sustenance and protection that can help them survive under this illegal colonial occupation, further underscoring Israel\u2019s genocidal aims.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The horrific reality that prevails in Gaza in particular\u00a0\u2013 where\u00a0the majority of\u00a0the population\u00a0remains\u00a0displaced and suffering untold miseries, including children dying of hypothermia as they continue being deprived of shelter and other life essentials \u2013 illustrates this sinister\u00a0objective\u00a0most painfully. It is the direct result of Israel\u2019s ongoing siege and aggressions on Gaza, with daily violations of the ceasefire and Security Council resolution\u00a0<\/span>2803 (2025)<\/span><\/a>. This includes its continued obstruction of humanitarian aid flows, of which its outlawing of ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA is a primary tool. No so-called \u201claws\u201d by Israel \u2013 an illegal occupying Power \u2013 can make these illegal actions legal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel\u00a0actually long\u00a0ago revealed that it put ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA in its crosshairs as part of its aims to dismantle the Palestine refugee community, the rights and existence of which it has targeted for elimination. Israel does not hide this nefarious goal; on the contrary, Israeli officials, from the Prime Minister on down, brag and\u00a0compete with each other\u00a0about it.\u00a0Thus\u00a0its systematic destruction of refugee camps in both Gaza and the West Bank and ongoing attempts to strip Palestine refugees of\u00a0assistance\u00a0that can ensure their basic human dignity and survival.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover,\u00a0it is clear that this\u00a0illegal occupation aims to push out any international presence in Occupied Palestine, including the diplomatic representations of countries,\u00a0seeking\u00a0to deprive our people of their humanitarian, political and financial\u00a0support\u00a0and protective presence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not solely about fabricated allegations and outright lies and incitement aimed at destroying ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA and driving the United Nations out of occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of Occupied Palestine. This is\u00a0part and parcel\u00a0of Israel\u2019s long-running illegal schemes to seize, colonize and annex Palestinian land under such countless, cynical,\u00a0false\u00a0and illegal pretexts.\u00a0All of\u00a0these illegal measures and actions must be condemned and rejected and must not be accepted or legitimized in any way.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The international community, including the Security Council, cannot remain idle in the face of this unlawful situation. Israel, the occupying Power, must be\u00a0demanded to\u00a0immediately\u00a0cease its attacks on the United Nations, its\u00a0personnel\u00a0and agencies, including ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA, and its confiscation and destruction of United Nations property and all other illegal actions. Such flagrant violations of the Charter, including Israel\u2019s obligation as a Member State to cooperate with the United Nations, and grave breaches of countless other tenets of international law by Israel in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, oblige the international community to act now to stop these crimes, stop Israel\u2019s destruction of international law and hold it accountable to the full extent of the law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The present letter is in follow-up to our 882 letters on the ongoing crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which\u00a0constitutes\u00a0the territory of the State of Palestine. These letters, dated from 29 September 2000 (<\/span>A\/55\/432-S\/2000\/921<\/span><\/a>) to 12 January 2026 (<\/span>A\/ES-10\/1052-S\/2025\/24<\/span><\/a>), constitute a basic record of the crimes being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people since September 2000. For\u00a0all of\u00a0these war crimes, acts of State terrorism and systematic human rights violations against our people, Israel, the occupying Power, must be held accountable and the perpetrators brought to justice. This illegal colonial occupation and apartheid regime must end now.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the present letter distributed as a document of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, under agenda item 5, and of the Security Council.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(<\/span>Signed<\/span><\/i>) Riyad\u00a0<\/span>Mansour<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Minister<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Permanent Observer<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General Assembly\u00a0 \u00a0 Security Council\u00a0 Tenth emergency special session\u00a0 \u00a0 Eighty-first year\u00a0 Agenda item 5\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Identical letters dated 21 January 2026 from the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[1593],"document-category":[2841,4211],"document-source":[],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2005,1741,5200,1785,1857,6881,6891],"entity":[5343],"document-language":[],"class_list":["post-314921","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-palestine-state-of","document-category-letter","document-category-palestine-letter-situation-in-the-opt-since-29-september-2000","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-humanitarian-relief","document-subject-israeli-actions-in-occupied-east-jerusalem-and-the-rest-of-the-occupied-palestinian-territory","document-subject-incidents","document-subject-occupied-palestinian-territory","document-subject-unrwa","entity-palestine-plo-palestinian-authority"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/314921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/314921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":314922,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/314921\/revisions\/314922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=314921"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=314921"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=314921"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=314921"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=314921"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=314921"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=314921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}