Armenia Recognizes Palestine as a State, Says Armenian Foreign Ministry 

A Palestinian flag is placed on the ground during a protest from the Freedom for Palestine Platform in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Madrid, Spain, June 15, 2024. (Reuters)
A Palestinian flag is placed on the ground during a protest from the Freedom for Palestine Platform in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Madrid, Spain, June 15, 2024. (Reuters)
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Armenia Recognizes Palestine as a State, Says Armenian Foreign Ministry 

A Palestinian flag is placed on the ground during a protest from the Freedom for Palestine Platform in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Madrid, Spain, June 15, 2024. (Reuters)
A Palestinian flag is placed on the ground during a protest from the Freedom for Palestine Platform in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Madrid, Spain, June 15, 2024. (Reuters)

Armenia has officially recognized a Palestinian state, the Armenian foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday, the latest country to do so despite opposition from Israel. 

Armenia supports a United Nations resolution on an immediate ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza and is in favor of a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the same statement said. 

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli military occupation, welcomed Armenia’s decision. 

"This recognition contributes positively to preserving the two-state solution, which faces systematic challenges, and promotes security, peace, and stability for all parties involved," the Authority's presidency said in a statement. 

Spain, Ireland and Norway are among Western countries to officially recognize a Palestinian state, prompting Israel to pull its ambassadors from Madrid, Dublin and Oslo last month. 



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”