UNRWA warned on Jan. 23 that Israeli authorities may seize the land beneath the Kalandia Training Centre in the West Bank and close the facility within days, jeopardising vocational training for about 350 young men. The agency says there is no immediate alternative for these students and calls the threat an attack on the right to education. Israel accuses UNRWA of links to Hamas — a charge the agency rejects — and has recently taken actions including demolitions and a clinic raid.
UN Agency Warns Kalandia Vocational Centre Could Be Shut Within Days Amid Israeli Expropriation Threat
The Palestinian key of return lies on the entrance arch of the camp near an UNRWA center, in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 11, 2026. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
GENEVA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees warned on Jan. 23 that Israeli authorities may close the Kalandia Training Centre in the occupied West Bank within days, a move that would disrupt vocational education for hundreds of Palestinian students.
The Kalandia Training Centre provides practical instruction in trades such as plumbing and vehicle maintenance to about 350 young men from across the West Bank. UNRWA said the land on which the centre sits is at imminent risk of expropriation by Israeli authorities, raising the possibility the facility could be forcibly shut down.
"If the centre were to be forcibly closed — and we do fear that this could happen within days — there is no educational alternative for these students. So you're depriving a large cohort of Palestine Refugees of economic opportunities," Jonathan Fowler, UNRWA's spokesperson, said in Geneva via video link from Amman, Jordan.
Fowler added that such an action would amount to an assault on the right to education and urged the international community to respond. UNRWA stressed that the closure would remove a rare pathway to skills and employment for young Palestinians in the West Bank.
An Israeli government spokesperson accused UNRWA of having links to the Hamas militant group — an allegation the agency firmly denies. In October 2024, Israel's parliament passed a law banning UNRWA from operating in the country and prohibiting Israeli officials from contacting its staff.
Earlier this week, Israeli forces demolished structures inside UNRWA's East Jerusalem compound, a site Israel seized last year. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini described the demolition as the latest in a series of measures affecting the agency, which has also reported a raid on a medical clinic and warnings that power and water supplies to its facilities could be cut in the coming weeks.
Context
UNRWA has for decades been the principal international agency delivering services and welfare to millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants who were displaced during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's founding. The agency says the Kalandia centre is part of its long-standing vocational and social support efforts across the occupied territories.
The situation remains fluid. UNRWA officials and international observers are calling for clarity and for measures to ensure continued access to education and basic services for the affected students and communities.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; additional reporting by Pesha Magid in Jerusalem; Editing by Peter Graff)
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