Epal European Palestinian Media Center Bulletin, Issue No. 2331, Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026

1. Occupation forces arrest 2,300 Palestinians over one year in Jenin and Tulkarm

Occupation forces arrested approximately 2,300 Palestinians over the course of a year in the northern West Bank governorates of Jenin and Tulkarm, as part of a campaign of forced displacement affecting tens of thousands of residents and the destruction of the camps’ urban and social infrastructure.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club reported, on the first anniversary of the military operation in northern West Bank refugee camps that began on January 21, 2025, that Israeli forces arrested 2,300 Palestinians from the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams camps.

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**2. Israeli plan to build 1,400 settlement units on UNRWA headquarters land in Jerusalem**

The Hebrew newspaper *Haaretz* revealed a plan to build 1,400 settlement units on the land where the UNRWA headquarters was located in occupied East Jerusalem.
The newspaper said the plan targets the land on which the UNRWA headquarters—recently demolished—stood. The site covers an area of 42 dunams and is part of a project aimed at changing the character of the area and repurposing it for settlement expansion.

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**3. Occupation demolishes UNRWA facilities in Jerusalem**

Israeli police carried out demolition operations targeting facilities—including mobile and permanent buildings—at the UNRWA headquarters after storming it this morning in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem.

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**4. Palestinian father recounts losing his son and his eyesight**

“My heart is what cries, not my eyes.” A Palestinian father recounts how he lost his only son and was blinded as a result of an Israeli strike, and how this loss and injury permanently changed the course of his life.

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**5. Ben-Gvir storms UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem**

Coinciding with the occupation raising its flag over the headquarters for the first time in United Nations history, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the UNRWA demolition site inside the agency’s main headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah, north of Jerusalem, accompanied by the mayor.

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**6. Settlers attack the Bedouin al-Burj community in the northern Jordan Valley**

Under the protection of occupation soldiers, settlers stormed the Bedouin al-Burj area in the northern Jordan Valley and assaulted Palestinian residents, injuring one of them. Occupation forces also arrested three Palestinians during the attack.

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### *European*

**7. Protest graffiti in Edinburgh rejecting investments linked to genocide**

Palestine supporters targeted the University of Edinburgh campus with protest graffiti in a new step against what they described as the university’s complicity in financing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The protests focused on George Square within the campus, where demonstrators painted prominent slogans such as “The University of Edinburgh funds genocide” and “Free Palestine,” sending a direct message to the university administration and academic community rejecting any financial or research ties with the Israeli occupation and arms companies.
This action comes as part of a growing series of protests led by the University of Edinburgh Justice for Palestine Society, whose members have been demanding for months that the university divest from companies involved in supporting the Israeli war machine and end research cooperation with arms manufacturers whose products are used to kill Palestinian civilians.

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**8. Legal victory for activists who protested the sale of occupation products at Sainsbury’s**

Activists Martin Rafferty, Eóin Duffy, and Yasmary Perdomo were acquitted of charges related to placing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) stickers on SodaStream products at a Sainsbury’s store in the Kennedy Centre in July 2024.
The three attended a hearing at Belfast Magistrates’ Court, where Judge Anne Marshall officially dismissed the case after it was found that there was no evidence of the alleged damage.
Their legal representative described the outcome as “wonderful,” noting that prosecutors had attempted repeatedly to secure a conviction despite the absence of any tangible evidence, and that the defendants had been forced to appear in court 13 times since last June before the case was dropped.
SodaStream is a beverage manufacturing company that was founded in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

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**9. Germany condemns demolition of UNRWA buildings in Jerusalem**

Germany condemned the demolition of buildings belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in occupied Jerusalem.
The German Foreign Ministry stated that United Nations property is inviolable and must not be violated, and that it expects Israeli authorities to adhere to their commitments and obligations under international law.

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**10. Australian employee fired for writing pro-Palestine slogans on his guitar**

Jayden Kitchener-Waters, an Indigenous Australian from the Gomeroi and Ngiyampaa nations, reported that he was dismissed from his job as a community engagement officer at the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust after writing pro-Palestinian slogans on his guitar during an official event. The slogans included phrases such as “No pride in genocide,” “Free Gaza,” and “F*** the Israeli army.”
Kitchener-Waters said the Prime Minister’s Office barred him from taking the stage during the Public Service Awards ceremony in November 2025 and suspended him from work temporarily while continuing to pay his salary. This sparked widespread support from Indigenous musicians and public figures, and protesters gathered outside the state parliament demanding his reinstatement.

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**11. 1,400 scientists from a nuclear research organization call for a boycott of the occupation**

More than 1,400 scientists working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) called for an end to all scientific and research cooperation with Israeli bodies suspected of direct or indirect involvement in ongoing violations of international law against Palestinians.
In their statement, the scientists said the cooperation includes institutions that contribute to the illegal occupation of Palestinian land or are implicated in serious violations, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
This move comes as part of a broader Palestinian-led campaign to boycott Israeli academic and cultural institutions under the international pressure strategy known as BDS.
The signatories stressed that continued scientific cooperation with such entities constitutes indirect support for occupation and violations of international law, warning that the scientific community’s commitment to ethical values must take precedence over research or financial considerations.

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### *International*

**12. Protest outside Paramount against hosting Jerry Seinfeld for visiting occupation camps**

Widespread protests took place outside the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, United States, coinciding with its hosting of American comedian Jerry Seinfeld, due to his public support for Israel, his justification of crimes against the Palestinian people, and his past visits to military camps in the occupied West Bank and near Gaza.
Protest organizers reported that hundreds of demonstrators held a sit-in outside the theater, chanting for more than four hours in subzero temperatures during the performance, rejecting the granting of cultural platforms to individuals who support mass killing and violations of international law.
Inside the theater, activists confronted Seinfeld directly by interrupting him and raising protest slogans.

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**13. UN officials: Demolition of UN facilities in Jerusalem violates international law**

The demolitions carried out by occupation forces inside the UNRWA headquarters in occupied Jerusalem sparked a wave of UN and Palestinian condemnations, amid warnings of a serious violation of international law and a direct attack on the role of the United Nations in the refugee issue.
UNRWA spokesperson Jonathan Fowler said Israeli forces stormed the agency compound shortly after 7 a.m. and bulldozers began demolishing facilities inside it, adding that what occurred “constitutes an unprecedented attack on UNRWA and its premises, and a grave violation of international law and the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the United Nations.”

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**14. Student protest in Korea against hosting an Israeli professor**

A solidarity protest was held near the “SK Future Hall” on the campus of Korea University in Seoul, condemning the invitation of Israeli professor Yuval Shany to deliver a lecture at the university.
The conference was attended by faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as Palestinian students in Korea, who denounced the invitation and called for an end to any cooperation between Korea University and Israeli institutions.
Speakers at the conference—organized by the Student Front for Solidarity with Palestine and the Civil Society Solidarity Initiative with Palestine—stressed the need to expand the academic boycott movement in South Korea into a broader and stronger campaign, warning against allowing Israeli lecturers to participate in local academic life.