Israeli police swap UN flag for Israeli flag during raid on UNRWA compound

Israeli police removed the United Nations flag from the compound of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem and raised the Israeli flag in its place, the agency's commissioner-general said Monday.

Philippe Lazzarini said through US social media company X: "Today in the early morning, Israeli police accompanied by municipal officials forcibly entered the @UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem."

"Police motorcycles, as well as trucks & forklifts, were brought in & all communications were cut. Furniture, IT equipment & other property was seized," he added.

Lazzarini continued that the UN flag "was pulled down & replaced with an Israeli flag."

The agency's headquarters, located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, had been vacated earlier this year following an Israeli decision.