Former UNRWA Building to Become IDF Complex

The government on Sunday approved plans to build a new defense complex at the site of UNRWA’s former East Jerusalem headquarters near Ammunition Hill.

The complex will include an IDF museum, an enlistment office and an office for the defense minister. According to a joint statement from the Defense Ministry and the Jerusalem municipality, the site covers roughly 36 dunams, or nine acres, and is intended to strengthen the defense establishment’s presence in the capital.

Defense Minister Israel Katz called the decision one of “sovereignty, Zionism and security,” saying there was “nothing more symbolic or just” than placing Israeli defense institutions at the former UNRWA compound.

“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,” Katz said.

He added that the move sends a message that Israel will continue to build and strengthen its hold on Jerusalem, which he called Israel’s eternal capital.

Israel began demolishing structures at UNRWA’s East Jerusalem headquarters in January, after the agency stopped operating from the compound. UNRWA had vacated the site after Israel ordered it to leave its premises and cease operations in the city.

The Defense Ministry and Jerusalem municipality signed an agreement in December to establish new defense headquarters in Jerusalem and relocate the military’s colleges to the capital, among other moves.

Israel has long sought to shut down UNRWA, accusing the agency of perpetuating the conflict by maintaining refugee status for descendants of Palestinians displaced in 1948 rather than resettling them under the model used for most other refugee populations.

Israel intensified its campaign against UNRWA after October 7, 2023, saying agency employees participated in the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

Israel has also alleged that more than 10% of UNRWA staff in Gaza have ties to terrorist groups and that schools and other facilities under the agency’s framework have promoted incitement against Israel.

In February 2024, the IDF revealed a Hamas data center beneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters. The military has also said Hamas command centers and armed terrorists operated from UNRWA schools. Some freed hostages have testified that they were held in UNRWA facilities during captivity.

UNRWA supporters argue that the agency plays a central role in providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, and that no other organization is currently equipped to replace it at scale.

A UNRWA spokesperson declined to comment on the Israeli plan.