Israel thumbed its nose at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) with Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Arieh King’s announcement Sunday that work had begun on its Jerusalem headquarters to convert the building to an IDF recruitment center and museum.

“Our promise, of the ‘United’ faction in the city of Jerusalem to evict UNRWA from Jerusalem, continues to be fulfilled. This morning, the work began to prepare the former UNRWA headquarters in Ma’alot Dafna, for use by the IDF as a recruitment office and IDF museum,” the deputy mayor posted alongside a video.

Despite pressure from the international community, including the United States, Israel moved to ban UNRWA two years ago from operating in Israel after the discovery that UNRWA employees had participated in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel that left about 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage.

The bill passed the Knesset on Oct. 28, 2024, with huge majorities and took effect on Jan. 30 the next year, followed by the closure of UNRWA’s main offices in the Ma’alot Dafna and Kafr Aqab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

The UNRWA center in Kafr Aqab will be converted into a complex serving Arab residents that will include a boys’ high school, a mosque, and sports and health care facilities. The project is expected to cost about $13 million.