WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The European Union has strongly condemned the Zionist regime for demolition of a recently-built Palestinian primary school in the Masafer Yatta region of the southern occupied West Bank, saying the move violates children’s right to education.
“The EU recalls that demolitions are illegal under international law, and children’s right to education must be respected,” Peter Stano, a spokesman for the bloc, said in a statement.
He added that the “unacceptable development comes while 1,200 Palestinians in Masafer Yatta remain at risk of forced transfer following the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision in May and against the backdrop of an increasingly coercive and intimidating environment for Palestinian locals, including movement restrictions imposed on them, teachers and humanitarian responders.”
Stano also called on Zionist regime authorities to halt all demolitions and evictions, “which will only increase the suffering of the Palestinian population and further escalate an already tense environment.”
On Wednesday, Zionist troops raided the Masafer Yatta area and demolished Asafat, a boys’ and girls’ school, in the village of Asafat al-Fawqa.
Footage taken by Israeli activist Itai Feitelson before the demolition shows teachers helping young Palestinian students out of a classroom window, while Zionist troops are standing outside.
Dozens of Zionist troops then cordoned off the area around the school, and a bulldozer flattened it shortly afterward.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the troops confiscated the school’s stationery, tables and chairs before flattening the building.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education said the demolition was “a heinous crime.”
“These practices have become a flagrant violation of students’ right to safe and free education,” it said.
The ministry also said that dozens of Palestinian students in Masafer Yatta now have no school to attend.
According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, the so-called Israeli High Court of Justice revoked on Wednesday an interim injunction freezing a demolition order against the school.