Father Of Hostage Murdered By UNRWA Operative Places Mezuzah At Jerusalem UNRWA Compound

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — At the entrance to the former UNRWA [United Nations Relief And Work Agency, which assisted, abetted and participated in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack] compound at Ammunition Hill (Givat HaTahmoshet) in Jerusalem, a symbolic ceremony was held on Wednesday morning, during which the bereaved father Kobi Samerano affixed a mezuzah to the gate of the site, one day after the Israel Land Authority began demolishing the building in accordance with the law passed in the Knesset banning UNRWA from maintaining its offices in Jerusalem as a terror supporting entity.

Participants in the ceremony included Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Arieh King, Knesset member Dan Illouz (Likud), and field activist Benayahu Ben Shabbat from the “Im Tirtzu” movement.

Samerano, the father of Yonatan Samerano, who was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip and murdered by a UNRWA operative, described the event as a personal closing of a circle. “Today we merited to affix a mezuzah at the former UNRWA compound at Givat HaTahmoshet in memory of our son. May this be a time of divine favor for protection, blessing, and salvation.”

היום זכינו לקבוע מזוזה במתחם אונר״א לשעבר בגבעת התחמושת
לזכות הבן שלנו
יונתן מרדכי בן אילת ויעקב
שתהא זו עת רצון לשמירה, ברכה וישועה 🙏 pic.twitter.com/or4RaRvrn0

— קובי סמרנו (@kobisamerano) January 21, 2026

After the demolition of the compound yesterday, Semerano said: “It is a closing of a circle for me and for my family. Our Yonatan was brutally kidnapped by a despicable UNRWA operative, and for a long time we could not live in peace until we brought him to burial in Israel. Justice has finally been done: UNRWA’s offices in Jerusalem have been completely destroyed. UNRWA is outlawed and is outside the State of Israel. I thank everyone who helped and pushed forward the legislation that enabled this demolition, and I hope we will not see UNRWA again in the State of Israel.”

MK Illouz said at the site: “We affixed a mezuzah in a place where incitement and terror were spread. I began this struggle together with Arieh King already about a decade ago, when I was still a member of the Jerusalem City Council. Even then, coalition and opposition cooperated on this issue at the municipal level, and today we did so at the national level. We will continue until the complete elimination of UNRWA everywhere in the Land of Israel.”