Israel demolishes Palestinian school in West Bank

Israeli forces on Wednesday demolished a school in a Bedouin community in the West Bank city of Hebron, according to a local activist.

“Israeli bulldozers brought down ‘al-Tahadi 13’ (Challenge 13) school without any prior notice,” Rateb Jabour told Anadolu Agency.

He said the school, which accommodates about 50 students, was scheduled to open later this week.

According to Jabour, Israeli forces cited the construction without permit for demolishing the school.

He said the school was part of a program by the Palestinian Education Ministry to build mobile classrooms for children in vulnerable communities across the Area C in the southern West Bank.

There was no comment from the Israeli military on the demolition.

Under the 1995 Oslo agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), the West Bank -- including East Jerusalem -- was divided into Areas A, B and C.

Area A falls under the administrative and security control of the PA; Area B falls under the administrative control of the PA and the security control of Israel; and Area C falls under the administrative and security control of Israel.

Area C is currently home to around 300,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are Bedouins and herding communities who predominantly live in tents, caravans and caves.