Israel has ordered the expropriation of the land where the United Nations offices operate in Jerusalem

In a gesture of escalation in the face of the scandal, the Israeli government ordered this on Monday expropriate the land occupied by the offices of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem. At the same time, it banned special rapporteur Francesca Albanese from entering its territory, after having made several comments on the attack launched on the Gaza Strip on October 7 by the Israeli authorities considered “anti-Semitic”.

He Israeli Minister of HousingYitzhak Goldknopf, ordered the director general of the Israel Lands Authority (ILA), Yaakov Quint, to expropriation of land who occupy UNRWA offices in East Jerusalem.

In a letter, the head of the real estate portfolio asked Quint to put “Immediate” end of all agreements signed between the ILA and UNRWA in order to evict the agency from all lands leased to the state, the Times of Israel reported.

The provision would therefore concern the offices of the UN agency located in Maalot Dafna and Kafr Aqab in East Jerusaleminformally annexed by Israel since 1967 and which is part of the Palestinian territories under international law.

Goldknopf justified his decision by saying this UNRWA “acted in the service” of Hamas, the Islamist movement and terrorist group that governs the Gaza Strip, “and also participated in the brutal October 7 massacre.” “My intention is to put an end to this drive them out of Israel“He added.

Israeli authorities stepped up their criticism of UNRWA after it became known that the organization was investigating some of its employees for collaborating with Hamas in attacks launched in early October on Israeli territory, which sparked the current war.

Israel’s endorsement of a UN rapporteur

Francesca Albanese, an independent expert appointed by the United Nations, last week criticized the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron, who described the Hamas assault on Israel as “the largest anti-Semitic massacre of our century”.

“No, Mr. @EmmanuelMacron. The victims of 7/10 They were not killed for their Judaismbut how reaction to Israel’s oppression. France and the international community have done nothing to prevent it,” he wrote on X.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel They described these comments as “scandalous”announced that she would be “banned from entering the State of Israel” and called for her to be fired “if the UN wants to become a competent body again”.

Albanese reacted shortly afterwards on the same social network by doubling the bet. “Israel’s ban is not new“Israel has banned ALL special rapporteurs from entering the Palestinian territories since 2008!” she tweeted.

“This should not distract attention from Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, which reach a new level of horror with the bombing of people in the safe areas of Rafah,” he added.

The UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories previously said she was “disappointed that some people interpreted (her) tweet as justification for Hamas’ crimes on October 7, (which she has) strongly condemned on several occasions “.

“I reject all types of racism, including anti-Semitismthat poses a global threat,” he wrote.

United Nations Special Rapporteurs are defined as voluntary, independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council, to which they report the findings of their investigations. But the UNRWA scandal and its employees’ ties led to an escalation and to suspicion about its role in the eyes of Israel that statements like that of the speaker increase.