RAMALLAH / Qais Abu Samra / Anadolu

Israeli authorities notified on Wednesday the demolition of a Palestinian school in the Hebron governorate, southern occupied West Bank, within a period not exceeding 14 days.

The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education said in a statement received by Anadolu that the notice to demolish Al-Rifa'iyya Al-Tahaddi Basic School 1 represents a 'dangerous escalation' and a continuation of the systematic targeting of the education sector.

The ministry affirmed its commitment to protecting the right to safe education, considering the demolition decision part of ongoing violations of the right to education, threatening about 200 male and female students studying at the school.

It explained that implementing the demolition decision will deprive students of educational, recreational, and psychosocial support activities usually carried out during the summer break.

For his part, Director of Public Relations at the Yatta Education Directorate, Jibril Dababsa, said the school is located south of the village of Al-Dirat, east of Yatta, and administratively belongs to Khallat al-Maiya municipality.

He added to Anadolu that Al-Rifa'iyya School was established in 2016, and currently receives about 200 male and female students from first to seventh grade.

Dababsa pointed out that the demolition notice places the students' academic future before major challenges and threatens the continuation of the educational process in the area.

He reported that the occupation's targeting is not limited to Al-Rifa'iyya School, but includes other schools in the population clusters east of Yatta.

He warned that about ten additional schools face the risk of receiving demolition notices or being demolished at any time, threatening the education of about a thousand male and female students.

He affirmed that official authorities and families are committed to continuing education despite the occupation's measures, stressing that the demolition decision 'will not deter us from pursuing education,' and that school attendance will continue even if the demolition is carried out.

He noted that the school notice is part of an ongoing Israeli policy targeting Palestinian educational institutions through demolition orders and construction bans, in an attempt to pressure Palestinian communities and deprive students of their right to education, in violation of international conventions that guarantee the protection of educational institutions during conflicts and occupation.