Israel demolishes Palestinian school in the West Bank, draws EU criticism
Israeli forces on Sunday destroyed an elementary school in a southern West Bank village citing security concerns, drawing sharp criticism from the European Union, which had funded the construction.
The EU’s representation to the Palestinians, which financed the structure, declared its “dismay” and urged Israel to “respect the right of children to education.”
According to AFP correspondents, bulldozers intervened at dawn to destroy this small elementary school located in Jabet Ad Dhib, in the Bethlehem region, after the expiration of a two-month judicial ultimatum to evacuate it.
As the bulldozers advanced, groups of Palestinians threw stones and Israeli forces responded with tear gas.
The modest structure – one of two schools in the village according to a municipal official – was empty and the material had been collected.
The school, which houses 45 children, had already been destroyed in 2019 and rebuilt, noted Ahmed Naser, a Palestinian education ministry official contacted by AFP.
The Cogat, the Israeli Defense Ministry body that oversees civilian activities in the Palestinian territories, imposed a two-month deadline in March to vacate the school, following an order from a Jerusalem court.
According to it, the structure had been “built illegally, without a permit.”
It added that it constituted “a danger to its occupants”, based on an engineer’s opinion that the building was at risk of collapse.