Israel plans to close a further six schools run by the Palestine refugee agency UNRWA in the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem.
Police officers and employees of the Jerusalem city council had forcibly entered the schools, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on Tuesday on the platform X. They had ordered closures within 30 days, he added.
Israeli police did not initially comment on the incident.
“Some 800 boys & girls are directly impacted by these closure orders and are likely to miss finishing their school year,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote.
Israel accuses the UN Palestinian relief agency of having employees involved in the militant activities of the Islamist Hamas group.
The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, responded by imposing a ban on work on Israeli territory, which came into force at the end of January.
Another law prohibits Israeli authorities from having any contact with UNRWA.
According to media reports, an Israeli hostage who had been released stated that she had been held in a UNRWA facility in the Gaza Strip.
Israel had previously ordered the closure of several UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem. The Jerusalem city council said that it would take care of the affected students after the UNRWA work ban went into effect.
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