Israeli Troops Demolish Primary School in Masafer Yatta

Israeli Troops Demolish Primary School in Masafer Yatta
Photo by Luke White via Unsplash

30-11-2022

Annachiara Canetta

Middle East and Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

 

Israeli forces have carried out the demolition of a newly built Palestinian school in Masafer Yatta on November 23rd. [1] Masafer Yatta is an area of around 3.000 hectares in the South Hebron Hills, which has been declared as “firing zone” by Israeli authorities in the 1980s. Israel subsequently started to try and evict people living in the area even though many Palestinian families have been living in the Masafer Yatta even before the 1967 occupation.

Residents of the area, who mostly rely on husbandry and farming, have been filing various petitions to the Israeli High Court of Justice to avoid the expulsion orders they have been faced with throughout the years. [2] In May 2022, the High Court of Justice rejected the appeals issued by the communities living in Masafer Yatta, putting 1.200 Palestinians at risk of eviction. [3]

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, together with other UN experts on the topic [4], denounced the High Court of Justice decision to reject the appeals, stating that it gives “carte blanche to the Israeli Government to perpetuate the practice of systematic oppression against Palestinians”. [5]

The demolition of the school is yet another attack against the community of Masafer Yatta, and a serious violation of the rights of children to education [6].

 

Sources and further reading:

 

[1] Israel demolishes school in Masafer Yatta as part of effort to drive Palestinians out of area. (2022, November 23). B’Tselem. https://www.btselem.org/video/20221123_israel_demolishes_school_in_masafer_yatta_as_part_of_effort_to_drive_palestinians_out_of_area

[2] Masafer Yatta communities Israel is trying to drive out. (2013, January 1). B’Tselem. https://www.btselem.org/south_hebron_hills/masafer_yatta

[3] OHCHR. (2022, August 2). Israel: Criminalisation and harassment of human rights defenders in Masafer Yatta must end, say UN experts. OHCHR. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/08/israel-criminalisation-and-harassment-human-rights-defenders-masafer-yatta

[4] Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context.

[5] OHCHR. (2022, May 16). UN experts alarmed by Israel High Court ruling on Masafer Yatta and risk of imminent forcible transfer of Palestinians. OHCHR. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/05/un-experts-alarmed-israel-high-court-ruling-masafer-yatta-and-risk-imminent

[6] UNGA. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 28.