JERUSALEM — Israeli police forcibly entered the compound of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem early Monday, escalating a campaign against the organization that has been banned from operating on Israeli territory.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or UNRWA, said in a statement that “sizable numbers” of Israeli forces, including police on motorcycles, trucks and forklifts, entered the compound in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

“The unauthorized and forceful entry by Israeli security forces is an unacceptable violation of UNRWA’s privileges and immunities as a U.N. agency,” the statement said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 29, although Israel did not confirm the location of the meeting. On Monday, Netanyahu met with U.S. officials in Jerusalem about collaboration on the U.S.-brokered plan on the future of Gaza.

The raid was the latest in Israel’s campaign against the agency, which provides aid and services to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Photos taken by an Associated Press photographer show police erecting an Israeli flag on the compound, and police cars on the street. Photos provided by UNRWA staff show a group of Israeli police officers in the compound.

Police said in a statement they entered for a “debt-collection procedure” initiated by Jerusalem’s municipal government, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The agency was established to help the estimated 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of the Israeli state. UNRWA supporters say Israel hopes to erase the Palestinian refugee issue by dismantling the agency. Israel says the refugees should be permanently resettled outside its borders.

For months following the start of the Israel-Hamas war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, UNRWA was the main lifeline for Gaza’s population during Israel’s offensive there.

Throughout the war, Israel has accused the agency of being infiltrated by Hamas, using its facilities and taking aid — claims for which it has provided no evidence. The U.N. has denied it.

Israel also has claimed that hundreds of Palestinian militants work for UNRWA, without evidence. UNRWA has denied knowingly aiding armed groups and says it acts quickly to purge any suspected militants.

After months of attacks from Netanyahu and his far-right allies, Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its territory in January. The U.S., formerly the largest donor to UNRWA, halted funding to the agency in early 2024.