Announcement on the Latest Change in UNHCR Operations in Israel

للغة العربية
ን ትግርኛ
Arabic and Tigrinya in the links above
This is a follow-up announcement to our message from 7 May, 2025 regarding the downsize of capacity at the UNHCR office in Israel and the transition to a small national team, as a result of the global economic crisis affecting UNHCR worldwide.
Further to the above, we would like to inform you that as of Tuesday, July 1, 2025, our office at 119 Ha-Hashmonaim Street in Tel Aviv will be closed. No alternative new physical office is currently planned.
In addition, UNHCR office reception will cease and will not continue, and there will be no phone reception hours.
During this transition period, we do not have the capacity to provide any human response on the office phone or at the office email address. Emails to UNHCR will not be answered as well.

What is available for asylum-seeker and refugee communities in Israel?

• Our phone number 03-6376500 will provide a recorded voice message (with the same information as in this message), in various languages.
• We recommend searching for information on our local website for Israel
• On our new platform - HELP -Israel, you can find information for asylum-seekers and refugees where to go and who to contact. Its purpose is to assist in searching and finding information on available services in Israel.
• The HELP website is available in the following languages: English, Arabic, Tigrinya and Ukrainian
• You may find assistance with the existing services in Israel including aid organizations, local authorities and welfare office, they remain available for you as always.
• In the coming months, a small team of three officials will be appointed to compose the small UNHCR office in Israel.

Updates regarding the new National Office and how it will operate will be published later, on UNHCR Israel office website.

We wish we were able to continue providing the same level of services and support to asylum-seeking communities in Israel. We deeply regret that our services are being abruptly terminated and our long-standing office in Israel is being closed to the public.

We will find additional and important ways to continue working and advocating to ensure international protection standards are met for asylum seekers and refugees in Israel, under Israel’s commitments and obligations to the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The resilience and unity of the community in times of routine and crisis has been an inspiration to us all, and we hope that better days will soon come.