Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned the demolition of buildings belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) by Israeli occupation forces in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on January 20.

Saudi Arabia has consistently supported Palestinian rights and called for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, which was captured in 1967.

"The Kingdom renews its rejection of Israeli violations of international norms, laws and humanitarian standards, and holds the international community responsible for confronting these practices and the Israeli approach based on continuing its crimes against international relief organisations," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry expressed Saudi Arabia's support for UNRWA in its humanitarian mission to provide relief to the Palestinian people, calling on the international community to protect relief organisations, their workers and their facilities.

Sheikh Jarrah, located in East Jerusalem, has been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Palestinian families facing eviction from homes they have lived in for decades. The neighbourhood has seen repeated confrontations between residents and Israeli forces.

UNRWA provides education, healthcare, relief and social services to Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, serving millions of people in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The agency has faced increasing restrictions and attacks on its operations in recent years.

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