West Bank Schools Face Demolition as New Academic Year Begins

Education Under Threat in Masafer Yatta

As Farah, Mohammed, and Jawad prepare for the new school year in Masafer Yatta, their excitement is tempered by an unsettling reality. The three students, aged 17, 8, and 7, attend Shaab al-Butum school, but the building they’ll return to is already diminished. Israeli forces demolished two administrative rooms and a storage facility on August 4, leaving the structure incomplete and the children’s futures uncertain.

The justification offered by Israeli authorities centers on building permits. According to the United Nations, Israel cited the lack of Israeli-issued permits as reason for the demolitions. Yet in Area C of the occupied West Bank, where Israel maintains administrative and military control, such permits are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain. This creates a structural trap: Palestinians cannot legally build, yet their existing structures face demolition for lacking legal status.

Worse still, the school’s troubles don’t end with the partial demolition. The entire building faces a demolition threat, with a court case scheduled for September 15. For these children, news of another potential loss compounds their anxiety about education itself.

A Systematic Pattern of Disruption

Mohammed’s fear is visceral and immediate: he worries Israeli forces will “return to demolish what remains.” Jawad speaks of sadness watching his school damaged, hoping it can “return as it was.” These aren’t abstract policy concerns for children. This is their reality, their learning environment, their sense of safety.

Nidal Younis, head of the Masafer Yatta local council, frames the crisis clearly: “It is a test renewed with every school year, amidst unprecedented escalation by the occupation authorities.” According to Younis, all seven schools across the wider Masafer Yatta area now face demolition threats. The uncertainty is weaponized. “We do not know whether these schools will survive to the end of this academic year, let alone still be standing when the next one begins,” he said.

Masafer Yatta itself carries a historical weight. The area was declared part of a closed Israeli military firing zone in the 1980s, a designation repeatedly used to justify forced displacement of Palestinians. Education, in this context, becomes an act of resistance and a target simultaneously.

Broader Crisis Across Palestinian Territories

The Masafer Yatta situation is not isolated. Figures from the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reveal a staggering 84 Palestinian schools serving nearly 13,000 students currently facing Israeli demolition or stop-work orders. The threat concentrates in specific areas: southern Hebron, particularly Masafer Yatta, and al-Walaja school near Bethlehem.

Amir Dawoud, a senior official with the commission, explains why these schools cannot simply relocate: “These are not schools that can simply be closed and their students easily transferred elsewhere.” Marginalised communities built these schools through the Palestinian Ministry of Education specifically to serve areas underserved by other institutions.

Tariq Hathaleen, an activist and teacher, describes the cascading impact. The occupation authorities rarely inform residents or school administrators before bulldozers arrive. Last academic year, settlers stormed Ras Ein al-Auja school in the Jordan Valley, assaulting staff and students. Schools, once considered spaces of relative protection, are news no longer immune from attack.

The Broader Assault on Palestinian Life

What makes this particularly devastating is the scope. “[Israel’s actions] do not target merely one aspect, but affects education, housing, freedom of movement and livelihoods,” Hathaleen told Al Jazeera.

Dawoud emphasizes a crucial point often overlooked: the damage begins long before demolition occurs. “The psychological and educational impact begins before the bulldozer arrives,” he said. Uncertainty itself becomes a weapon. Planning restrictions combine with road closures and settler violence, creating cumulative pressure designed to force displacement.

This represents, according to Dawoud, “a systematic pattern that transcends individual cases.” It’s not about individual school buildings. It targets “the ability of Palestinian communities to survive.”

As another school year begins, children like Farah, Mohammed, and Jawad face an impossible question: will their school still exist next week?

Al Jazeera