Israel demolishes Palestinian school in the occupied West Bank

The donor-funded Palestinian elementary school is demolished by the Israeli-occupied regime in the central West Bank.

In a flagrant violation of Palestinian children’s right to education, Israeli military forces demolished a donor-funded Palestinian primary school in the central part of the occupied West Bank.

Witnesses and neighborhood authorities said the Israeli armed force struck Beit Ta’mir town, found six kilometers (3.7 miles) southeast of Bethlehem, on Sunday morning and obliterated Challenge 5 School.

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They claimed that a bulldozer destroyed the school shortly after dozens of Israeli soldiers surrounded it.

The school, which was worked of stopgap materials, was gone to by 66 Palestinian understudies. It was annihilated in 2017 preceding it was remade around the same time.

The demolition was described as “a heinous crime” by the Palestinian Ministry of Education.

It stated in a statement that “these practices fall within the framework of the occupying regime’s ongoing crimes against the Palestinian educational sector, targeting students, teachers, and educational institutions in total disregard of international conventions and principles.”

According to the ministry, “International organizations and human rights institutions are required to assume their responsibilities regarding the escalating Israeli violations of the occupation, highlight them in all significant events and conferences, and provide protection for our students and educational staff in light of such Israeli acts of aggression.” The ministry also stated that these institutions must do so in light of the growing number of Israeli violations.

Additionally, it urged relevant international organizations to safeguard the education rights of Palestinian children.

After rejecting a petition against the measure, an Israeli court issued a verdict in March ordering the school to be demolished.

In the vicinity of the school, locals and Israeli soldiers are said to have engaged in fights. A few residents endured poisonous gas inward breath during conflicts.

Also on Sunday, Israeli forces tore down a number of other Palestinian-owned structures. These included a guest house in the village of al-Jiftlik, two homes that were being built in the eastern West Bank town of al-Auja, and a car wash workshop in the village of Ferdis.

The Arab Campaign for Education for All (ACEA) issued a warning earlier this year regarding the delivery of demolition orders by Israeli forces to 58 schools in the occupied West Bank, including East al-Quds.

According to ACEA’s statement, “Israeli authorities have issued six demolition or stop-building orders targeting six Palestinian schools during the past year [2022], in addition to demolition notices targeting 58 schools in the West Bank, including al-Quds,” which serve over 6,500 Palestinian students and employ more than 700 educators.

The statement emphasized the need for concerned institutions and relevant United Nations agencies to assume their roles and responsibilities in putting pressure on the Israeli regime to stop its policy of demolishing schools, warning that the violations affect children, teachers, and school buildings.

 

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