Israel has seized the Jerusalem headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees and is converting it into a housing complex, reported the Jerusalem Post.
Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israeli military posts last October in solidarity with its ally, Palestinian group Hamas, which had carried out a deadly-cross border attack into Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel retaliated with an intense military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 42,000 people, including UNRWA staff.
Israeli leaders have accused UNRWA staff of collaborating with Hamas militants in Gaza, leading many donors to suspend funding.
The U.N. launched an investigation into Israel's accusations and dismissed nine staff, while the records of others were still being reviewed.
In July, the Israeli Parliament gave preliminary approval to a bill that would declare UNRWA a "terrorist organization."
Maj. Shay Rosengarten, chairman of Im Tirtzu, the leading organization in the struggle to remove UNRWA from Israel, hailed the move.
"Congratulations to ILA for the quick action. The UNRWA employees who were involved in the Oct. 7 massacre must be punished most severely, and the rest deported,” he said.
"A commemorative museum for the terrible Simchat Torah massacre should be established in the new complex. We thank our thousands of activists who demanded the removal of UNRWA from Jerusalem!"
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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