Parents and students staged a sit-in on Sunday at UNRWA schools in the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, to protest the closure of schools by the Israeli occupation authorities.

The protesters held up slogans including: “Our children have the right to learn, open the school doors,” “There is no alternative place for our children,” “The Jerusalem Girls School must remain open,” and “Our right to education.”

Last Thursday, Israeli occupation forces stormed UNRWA schools in Jerusalem, forcing students, teaching staff, and administrative personnel to evacuate immediately. The decision to close six UNRWA schools came into effect.

Earlier, UNRWA confirmed that the occupation authorities were preventing 550 students from reaching their schools in occupied East Jerusalem.

UNRWA said in a post on its official Facebook page on Saturday that Israeli occupation forces raided three of the agency's schools in the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem last Thursday, intending to enforce illegal closure orders issued a month earlier, forcing more than 550 girls and boys to leave their schools.

UNRWA added that it was forced to evacuate all children from the six schools it runs in East Jerusalem as a result, calling the incident a "blatant attack on children's right to education."

On January 26, 2025, the occupation authorities ordered UNRWA to evacuate all its buildings in East Jerusalem and cease operations there by January 30 of the same year. Later, they gave its schools until May 8 of this year to close.

On April 8, the occupation forces delivered orders to a number of UNRWA schools in Shuafat Camp, Sur Baher, Silwan, and Wadi al-Joz prohibiting anyone from entering the school building after May 8, 2025, including principals, teachers, staff, and parents. Parents were also urged to register their children in schools run by the occupation municipality.

On October 28, 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed two laws prohibiting UNRWA from conducting any activities within the occupied Palestinian territories, revoking its privileges and facilities, and prohibiting any official contact with it. These laws entered into force on January 30, 2025.

The occupation authorities claim that UNRWA employees participated in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, a claim denied by the agency. The United Nations affirmed UNRWA's commitment to neutrality, its commitment to continuing its work, and its rejection of the Israeli ban.