Israel demolishes Palestinian school in West Bank

Israeli occupation forces this morning demolished a Palestinian school in the occupied West Bank under the pretext that it lacked the necessary building license, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.

The Israeli authorities demolished Ein Samia School, located east of Ramallah, which provides educational services to a number of students in the Bedouin community, a ministry statement said.

Israeli bulldozers Thursday demolished a Palestinian owned school Ein Samia in al-Qaboun Bedouin community in the village of Kafr Malik, east of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.#Palestinian #WestBank#Ramallah#school #KafrMalik#EinSamia#demolished pic.twitter.com/IEcNcU3d1W

— Masoud ALjaroosha (@aljaroosha) August 17, 2023

The ministry condemned the operation, saying that it “comes with the approaching start of the new school year, which means that students in this Bedouin community are deprived of their right to education.”

Witnesses said an Israeli force “stormed the Ein Samia community and began dismantling the school, which was built of tin.”

READ: Jewish settlers vandalise Palestinian school threatened with demolition

The school falls within Area C which constitutes 60 per cent of the occupied West Bank and is under Israel’s security and administrative control. It was established before the start of the last academic year, with European support.

Building permits are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain, however settler groups regularly claim and establish illegal outposts on Palestinian land which are protected by heavily armed occupation forces.