A demolition operation in Khirbet al-Fakhit, in the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank, destroyed homes, livestock shelters, water infrastructure and solar-power installations. Among those affected was 12-year-old sixth-grade student Sundus al-Hamamdeh, who left for school in the morning and returned to find her house gone.
Schools in several Masafer Yatta communities also face demolition orders, while students and teachers contend with road closures, checkpoints and settler harassment on their journeys to class.
Why homes and schools face demolition
Much of Masafer Yatta lies in Area C of the occupied West Bank, where Israel controls planning and construction. Israeli authorities justify demolition orders by saying structures were built without permits; Palestinians, backed by the United Nations, say those permits are nearly impossible for them to obtain. Related coverage: Human Rights Watch says settler violence is forcing Palestinians from West Bank communities.
Large parts of the area have also been designated by the Israeli military as a firing zone, which is used as another justification for forcing out the Palestinian population.
A school building has already been partly demolished
On August 4, Israeli forces surrounded Shaab al-Butum school and demolished two rooms used by teachers and administrators, along with a storage room, according to Bassam Jabr, the director-general of education in Masafer Yatta. The United Nations independently documented the demolition and said Israeli authorities cited the absence of an Israeli-issued building permit. Read the context: Children return to a damaged school under demolition threat.
The school, established in 2015, serves about 60 students from kindergarten through 11th grade. Its main building remains under a demolition order, and its remote location makes transferring students to other schools particularly difficult, Jabr said.
Students describe fear and determination
Schools in Zif, ar-Rifaiyah, Umm Qussa, Umm al-Kheir, Jinba, Shaab al-Butum, Khirbet al-Daba and al-Majaz are among those facing demolition orders, according to Intisar Omar Abu Sabha, an administrative director at the Masafer Yatta Directorate of Education. She said schools have also faced damage, settler incursions and harassment in and around their grounds.
At Zif Secondary School for Girls, about 250 students attend a school that first received a demolition notice in 2016. Headteacher Hanaa al-Salameen said an appeal against demolition was dismissed this year and that some students had transferred because of fear and anxiety. Efforts to obtain an interim injunction are continuing.
Palestinian lawyer Yasmeen Sallaq said movement restrictions, military raids, arrests, displacement and attacks affecting students and education workers make the right to education increasingly difficult to exercise. At Zif, 10th-grade student Rabiha Yousef Jibril said students would continue studying even if the school were demolished.
What happens next
Education officials have appealed to Israeli courts and called on the United Nations and foreign governments to intervene. At Zif Secondary School for Girls, efforts to obtain an interim injunction against demolition are continuing.
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