Israeli Army demolishes EU-funded Palestinian school again near Bethlehem

The EU has condemned the demolition and has called for respect for the right to education of Palestinian minors

May 7. (EUROPE PRESS) –

Israeli military personnel have demolished this Sunday again using bulldozers a Palestinian school financed with funds from the European Union in Bayt Tamar, on the outskirts of Bethlehem. The EU has condemned the demolition.

The military entered the town and destroyed the Yubbet Adh Dhib College, which was demolished six years ago, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The director of Education of Bethlehem, Bassam Yaber, explained that the school served 60 students between the first and fourth grades and recalled that it was already demolished in 2017 and rebuilt that same year.

The Israeli Supreme Court had authorized the demolition of the school in March and thus resolved the last appeal presented by the humanitarian organization St. Yves and the Commission for Colonization Resistance to the Wall, has highlighted the director of the pro-Palestinian organization, Hassan Briyié.

Brijié stressed that the school was rebuilt on land donated by Palestinian clans in the area and with all the documentation in order.

After the demolition, clashes broke out between the Palestinian military forces and neighbors in the area and they used tear gas to disperse the population. Many of the neighbors had to be treated for drowning.

CONDEMNED BY THE EU

The EU has condemned the demolition and recalled that it had asked the Israeli authorities not to carry out the demolition “which affects 81 minors and their education”.

“The European Union condemns the demolition of the EU-funded school in Jubbet Adh Dhib, in the occupied Palestinian territory,” the EU’s External Action Service said in a statement.

Brussels has also recalled that “demolitions are illegal under international law” and that “the right of minors to education must be respected.” That is why he urges Israel to “paralyze all demolitions and evictions” because “they only increase the suffering of the Palestinian population and cause an increase in tension.”

The EU recalled that in 2022 alone, 954 demolitions were carried out in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the highest number since 2016. “More than 80 percent of the structures (781) were in Zone C” under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Israeli authorities, according to Brussels, which has highlighted that these demolitions caused 1,032 displaced persons. “This year the same worrying trend continues,” the EU stressed.

The pacifist organization Peace Now, Paz Ahora, had warned that the demolition was requested by the “right-wing organization Regavim” for being an illegal and unsafe construction.

“It is a shame that the Government of Israel (…) is going to demolish a school for Palestinian boys and girls. The Government has never bothered to comply with its moral and legal obligations to cover the most basic needs of the Palestinian neighbors of the Occupied Territories”, he denounced.