UN condemns Israeli demolition of office

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned Israeli crews for demolishing the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, calling them "escalatory actions" and "inconsistent with Israel's obligations under international law".

The latest developments also come amid persistent complaints of aid restrictions in the Gaza Strip. Early on Tuesday, Israeli forces bulldozed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East headquarters in East Jerusalem.

Guterres said that the Sheikh Jarrah compound remains United Nations' premises and "is inviolable and immune from any form of interference".

He viewed as wholly unacceptable the continued escalatory actions against UNRWA, "which are inconsistent with Israel's clear obligations under international law, including under the Charter of the United Nations and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations".

Guterres urged the Israeli government to immediately cease the demolition of the Sheikh Jarrah compound, and to return and restore the compound and other UNRWA premises to the UN without delay.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini also clarified that contrary to reports in the media, the Israeli government "does not own or have rights to the property that houses UNRWA's Sheikh Jarrah compound in East Jerusalem".

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan have all called out the demolition and deemed the move a "perilous escalation and a brazen breach of international law, as well as of the immunities and privileges of United Nations organizations".

Effective action urged

Hamas on Tuesday urged the international community to take effective action to compel Israel to immediately and fully halt what it described as ongoing violations of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The call was made in a political memorandum submitted by Hamas to mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkiye, as well as guarantor parties and international organizations, marking 100 days since the ceasefire agreement came into effect on Oct 10 last year.

Since the ceasefire, 483 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 169 children, 64 women, 191 civilian men and 39 members of Palestinian factions.

Meanwhile, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Wednesday that he had accepted the invitation of US President Donald Trump to become a member of the Board of Peace, which will be composed of world leaders.

Arhama Siddiqa, a research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, told China Daily that these developments gain added significance as Netanyahu's reported acceptance of a role on Trump's Board of Peace "has yet to translate symbolic diplomacy into tangible restraint, with the initiative itself moving sluggishly despite claims that a second phase of the truce has begun".

"For the future of Palestine, this pattern suggests a troubling trajectory in which unilateral measures continue to reshape facts on the ground faster than diplomacy can respond," she said.

"It narrows the space for a viable political horizon, undermines the credibility of international mediation, and deepens Palestinian skepticism that existing peace mechanisms can deliver meaningful protection, rights, or a just and lasting settlement," Siddiqa added.

jan@chinadailyapac.com