Israel soldiers threaten to shoot students, teachers in Palestine school raid

Israeli occupation forces raided a Palestinian primary school in the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

According to Wafa News Agency, Israeli soldiers stormed Al-Kurom Primary School and interrogated Palestinian students and teachers at gunpoint, threatening to shoot whoever tried to escape.

Gunfire at schools is common, as is the obstruction of students’ access and intimidation, including the deployment of troops in the surrounding area.

It comes after ten European countries, including Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland and the Office of the European Union Representative to the West Bank and Gaza, called on Israel to halt its policy of home demolitions and confiscation of Palestinian properties in the occupied West Bank.

The ten countries “strongly condemned the recent demolition of the donor-funded school in Jubbet Adh Dhib” and expressed “their grave concern about the threatened demolition of another 57 schools in the West Bank.”

OPINION: All wars are bad for children

Israel widely uses the pretext of a lack of construction permits to demolish Palestinian homes, especially in Area C, which is under Israeli army control.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and human rights abuses against Palestinians and breaches of international law are daily occurrences.