The government has approved plans to establish a new defense complex, including an IDF museum, an enlistment office, and an office for the defense minister, on the 36-dunam (9-acre) site of UNRWA’s former headquarters near Ammunition Hill in East Jerusalem. This move directly replaces an international agency providing relief to Palestinian refugees with military infrastructure, further entrenching state control over contested territory.
The new complex is intended to strengthen the defense establishment’s presence in Israel’s capital, according to a joint statement from the Defense Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality. This expansion of military and state apparatus comes after years of systematic efforts to dismantle the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees.
Consolidating State Power
Defense Minister Israel Katz framed the decision as "a decision of sovereignty, Zionism and security," asserting that there is "nothing more symbolic or just" than establishing defense institutions "on the ruins of the UNRWA compound." Katz repeated Israeli allegations that UNRWA was complicit in Hamas terror activity, stating that "In a place where an organization operated that became part of the machinery of terror and incitement against Israel, institutions will now be established that strengthen Jerusalem, the IDF, and the State of Israel." He added that this sends "a clear message to all our enemies: we will continue to build, strengthen, and deepen our hold on Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, from a position of strength."
Israel began demolishing UNRWA’s East Jerusalem headquarters in January of the same year, following years of legislative measures against the UN agency. The Defense Ministry signed an agreement with the Jerusalem municipality in December of the same year to establish new defense headquarters in the capital and relocate military colleges to the city. UNRWA had not used the building since the start of last year, after Israel ordered it to vacate all its premises and cease its operations.
Dismantling Refugee Support
Israel has long sought to shutter UNRWA entirely, alleging it perpetuates the conflict by continuing to confer refugee status on Palestinian descendants rather than resettling them. The campaign against the agency intensified after evidence emerged that employees of the agency had participated in the October 7, 2023, attack, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostages. Israel has also alleged that more than 10 percent of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist factions and that educational facilities under the organization’s auspices consistently incite hatred of Israel and glorify terror.
Further allegations include the IDF revealing the existence of a subterranean Hamas data center directly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza Strip headquarters in February of the third year. The IDF has also repeatedly targeted Hamas command centers and gunmen hiding out in UNRWA schools. Additionally, a number of freed hostages have testified that they were held in captivity in UNRWA schools and facilities.
The Limits of Liberal Solutions
A UNRWA spokesperson declined to comment on the Israeli plan. While the state moves to dismantle the agency, some supporters have noted the key role UNRWA fills in providing relief to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. These supporters argue that UNRWA prevents deeper poverty that could fuel violence and terrorism, stating that no other body or group is equipped to handle that responsibility. This perspective highlights the systemic conditions of dispossession and poverty that UNRWA attempts to mitigate, rather than challenging the structural forces that create these conditions and now seek to eliminate even the limited relief provided.