Children in Shaab al-Butum village in Masafer Yatta, in the southern occupied West Bank, are returning to their only school after Israeli forces demolished two administrative rooms and a storage room on August 4. The rest of Shaab al-Butum school is also under threat of demolition, leaving students and families uncertain about whether it will remain open.
The United Nations said Israel justified the demolitions by citing the absence of Israeli-issued building permits. Such permits are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain in Area C of the occupied West Bank, which is under Israeli administrative and military control.
A return to class marked by fear
Farah, Mohammed and Jawad attend the school in the village where they live. Farah said it was the only school she had attended and expressed fear about what would happen next. Mohammed said he worried Israeli forces would return to demolish what remains, while Jawad said he was saddened by the damage and hoped the school could be restored.
Nidal Younis, head of the Masafer Yatta local council, said the threat extends beyond school buildings. He described children as facing violence while travelling to school, inside classrooms and at home, alongside restrictions affecting housing, movement and livelihoods.
Demolition orders affect more than buildings
Activist and teacher Tariq Hathaleen said residents and school administrators are not usually told in advance when bulldozers will arrive. He also said settlers had entered Ras Ein al-Auja school in the Jordan Valley during the previous academic year and assaulted staff and students, showing that schools are not protected from attack.
Amir Dawoud of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said the schools facing the most immediate legal threats are concentrated in the southern Hebron area, especially Masafer Yatta, as well as at al-Walaja school near Bethlehem. He said the effects of demolition orders begin before any building is destroyed, disrupting students, teachers and families. For additional context, see “What makes Israeli settler attacks in the West Bank a pogrom?”.
Why the wider area remains vulnerable
Masafer Yatta was declared part of a closed Israeli military firing zone in the 1980s. The designation has been used in repeated attempts to force local Palestinians out, according to the account from local officials and activists.
The schools were built by the Palestinian Ministry of Education to serve marginalised communities. Dawoud described the pressure on them as a wider pattern involving planning restrictions, road restrictions and settler attacks that threatens the ability of Palestinian communities to remain in place.
What happens next
A court case concerning the remaining Shaab al-Butum school building is scheduled for September 15.
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