"After having been stormed and demolished by the Israeli authorities, the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem has now been set on fire," the agency said in a statement.
The arson attack comes one week after Israeli occupation forces began demolition work on the agency's compound.
"There are no limits to the defiance of the United Nations and international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," the statement read.
"[Palestinian] Refugee status must be resoled through a genuine political solution, not criminal acts", it added.
Last week, in a statement, the UNRWA condemned the Israeli seizure and demolition of its headquarters in the occupied territories, maintaining that its property remained protected by the privileges and immunities of the UN.
"Like any UN Member State anywhere in the world, without exception, Israel is legally obliged to protect and respect UN facilities," UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler told AFP on Sunday.
The UNRWA HQ in East Jerusalem after Israel began attempts to demolish it. AP
UNRWA under siege
The arson attack on the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem on Saturday was the second such attack in as many years.
In May 2024, an Israeli mob, chanting “Burn down the United Nations”, attempted to set the agency's headquarters in East Jerusalem on fire, in a move that was condemned internationally.
The same year, in defiance of international law that safeguards refugee rights, Israel unilaterally de-recognized the UNRWA in 2024 and banned its representatives from operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli attacks on the UNRWA, backed by the Trump administration, are part of a wider attempt to deprive Palestinians in the occupied territories of access to basic humanitarian, health, and educational services from the outside world as Tel Aviv intensifies steps on the ground to attempt and annexe the West Bank.
Along those lines, earlier in January, Israel banned 37 NGOs from operating in the occupied territories after they refused to hand over lists of their Palestinian employees to Tel Aviv, in a move that was condemned regionally and internationally.
Israeli soldiers and settlers are on the rampage in the occupied territories. Courtesy of the International Crisis Group
Why the agency matters
Since its founding by the UN in 1949, UNRWA has provided a lifeline to roughly six million Palestinians refugees in camps across Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem. The agency provides basic nutritional, health, and educational services, as well as employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Last December, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on assistance to Palestinian refugees and the renewal of the UNRWA mandate till June 2029.
The resolution reaffirmed the necessity of UNRWA operations and called for its work to continue unhindered until a just solution to the Palestinian refugee issue is reached.
Under international law, Palestinian refugees, who were expelled and dispossessed by Israel from their homes in historic Palestine in 1948 and 1967, have the right to return to their homeland.
UNRWA volunteer in Gaza comforts a child during the Israeli war in the strip. AFP
In Gaza, UNRWA has provided critical humanitarian and educational services in addition to employment opportunities to hundreds of thousands of refugees for decades.
Since the start of the genocidal war on the strip in October 2023, Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 382 of UNRWA staff and bombed tens of its facilities used as shelter by displaced Palestinians.
Despite a limited end to the August 2025 famine after the October ceasefire, the UN reports that the humanitarian situation in the strip remains critical, with the entire territory classified as an emergency.
Amid a continued Israeli blockade on Gaza in violation of the October ceasefire, UNRWA, along with UN humanitarian partners, has continued to coordinate with Egypt in delivering aid to 2.3 million Palestinians in the strip.
"UNRWA has a critical role to play. We are providing public-like services to Palestinian refugees. If you get rid of this expertise and work, who else will come in?" UNRWA Commissioner Philippe Lazzarini said.
"The two main providers of public services are the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA. If none of them has a role to play, who will fill the vacuum?"
"It is a long-term political goal because it is believed that if the aid agency is abolished, the status of the Palestinian refugees will be resolved once and for all -- and with it, the right of return. There is a much larger political goal behind this," Lazzarini added.
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