Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a proposal to establish a Defense Ministry complex on the site of the demolished UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) complex in Jerusalem, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Sunday in a post on X/Twitter.
According to Katz, the new Ammunition Hill complex will include an IDF recruitment office, an IDF museum, and an office for the Defense Minister.
"Today, on Jerusalem Day, we liberated a new area in Jerusalem when the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved my proposal to establish a Defense Ministry complex... in place of the demolished UNRWA complex," said Katz.
"We outlawed this terrorist-supporting UN organization [UNRWA] and took the area, and now on its ruins we are building and strengthening Jerusalem - the eternal capital of the Jewish people," continued Katz.
UNRWA's Jerusalem headquarters was demolished in January due to "the implementation of existing Israeli legislation concerning UNRWA-Hamas," according to the Foreign Ministry.
UNRWA’s ties with the Hamas terrorist organization have been continuously exposed since the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, with some UNRWA operatives even taking part in the October 7 massacre itself.
In addition, numerous tunnels and other terrorist infrastructures were found under UNRWA buildings in Gaza.
Right-wing MKs Ben-Gvir, Malinovsky celebrate UNRWA HQ demolition
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir celebrated the building's demolition, calling it a "very important day for Jerusalem's governance."
"For years, these terror supporters were here, and today they are banished with everything they built," said Ben-Gvir.
Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, an initiator of a bill to sever ties with UNRWA, said of the demolition, "redemption has come to Zion!"
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized the Jerusalem building's demolition, describing Israel's actions against UNRWA as "wholly unacceptable."
Guterres added that Israel's actions were against international law, according to Deputy UN Spokesperson Farhan Haq.