LONDON: Israeli settlers demolished the Yanoun Mixed Basic School in a hamlet south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Friday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
In a statement, the ministry said the school in Yanoun, which served about 15 pupils from first to sixth grade, was destroyed around eight months after residents of Yanoun were forcibly displaced.
The ministry described the demolition as “a new crime against Palestinian children” and said it violated international humanitarian law and conventions protecting the right to education and prohibiting attacks on schools.
It said the school had served as a vital educational facility for the community, ensuring children had access to primary education, and accused Israel of pursuing a systematic policy aimed at undermining the Palestinian education system, increasing pressure on communities and depriving children of their right to learn.
The ministry said it would continue working with its partners to ensure affected students can continue their education despite what it described as ongoing violations.
It also called on the international community, the UN, and human rights and humanitarian organizations to take urgent action to protect education in the Palestinian territories, hold Israel accountable for what it described as repeated violations against students and schools, and end the targeting of educational institutions.
